Over A Decade's Wait
by ll Kairi ll
Summary: Sequel to His Decision! Yugi was never more happy than now. He had a home, great friends, a girl friend, and his brother. This year was perfect because it was his senior year. But what happens when someone comes and changes all of that? YugixTea AtemxOC
1. Prologue

Welcome back my faithful readers! I'm back from my vacation, even though it was rather short….

Lisa: Quiet you're bitchin! Get on with the story! I've been waiting for this to start!

.. Meanie head. But fine, here's the Prologue! ^^

**Summary**: Yugi finally had the perfect life. He had awesome friends, a wonderful mom and awesome grandfather, had a nice school, was famous and known as the King Of games, had a man's best friend, and most of all, had his own brother, Atem. It has been a couple of months since Atem came back and saved Yugi from dying of the Light. And now he thought he had a perfect life. Boy did he speak that too soon. Someone drops by for a little 'visit' and is taking Yugi away from his perfect life by either a simple 'come with me' or will use force. :o Who is this new person and what does he want with Yugi?

Prologue:

'_Not now! I cannot go bankrupt right now, not while I have all these bills to pay!' _A man in his mid forties was hunched over at his work desk wanting to pull out his jet black hair that was streaked with gray from his age. He rubbed his temples. '_Where the hell am I going to get twenty thousand dollars in the next month? This shit-y job won't even be able to cover half of it, much less a third. Why the hell did I take this job?' _He groaned inwardly.

"He did it again!" A loud, cheerful job called.

The man looked up to see one of his younger co-workers run into the office building holding up a newspaper article. He dodged around the lady who always brought in the mail and ducked under someone who was carrying a large box. He ran straight over to a different office cube where three other men were.

"What're you talking about, Charlie?" The man sitting on the chair asked, rolling his eyes.

The man next to him chuckled, "What have you heard _this _time? More news about the wonder boy who survived a great fall?"

The man, Charlie, glared at them for a minute but then held the newspaper up so that the three could read it. "No, and for your information that kid fell off the side of a building and was saved by a flock of birds. Anyways, this one is different. He's done it again!" He got real excited.

The third man sighed and took the newspaper as the other two started to read over his shoulder.

"_'Eighteen year old Yugi Mutou has done it again,' a reporter claimed. 'He has won yet another duel against the undefeatable, young CEO Seto Kaiba for what seems like the tenth time_ now. _Only he, [Yugi Mutou] has ever defeated him. From his popularity, many colleges are sending him scholar ships. I got a chance to interview one of his close friends, Mr. Joey Wheeler - -,' _

The man reading allowed smiled. "Daaaamn, he is going to be one rich kid and all he have been doing I playing a simple game."

"Danzo, you obviously haven't played the game, have you?" Charlie asked, crossing his arms against his chest like scowling a younger child.

The man, Danzo shook his head. "Nope. It may be a popular game here in Texas, ((^^)) but I don't play games anymore. I always have to work to do."

"Riiiight. You barely do your work. All you do is set dates with at least three women a week."

Danzo rolled his eyes but before he could say anything, Charlie continued, "Anyways, back to the topic about Yugi Mutou….?"

The third man handed him back the paper. "What about him?"

Charlie took it back, having that gleam in his eyes like a child getting a puppy for Christmas. "Well, I found out where he lives! He likes in Domino, Japan!"

The three men laughed out loud. "What, are you going to stalk him now?"

Charlie gave him another glare before turning to look at the man that was at his desk. "Hey Chokichi, you've been to Japan, right?"

The man Chokichi looked up from his bills and faked a smile. "As a matter of fact, I used to live there. I had a family but I left them over seventeen years ago and haven't seen them since. Why, was something the matter?"

Charlie opened his mouth, a bit surprised. For as long as he's been working here, only about three years, this was the first time he's ever heard about Chokichi having a family. When he looked back to the three men, it was a fact that this was the first too.

Danzo was the first to straighten up. "Uh, no. But, I didn't know you had a family back in Japan. You never spoke of them before."

The male scratched his head. "Yeah, I don't like to talk about it much. Right when my son was born, uh, me and my wife had this fight and I left."

"Must have been some fight for not seeing them in seventeen years!"

Chokichi shrugged, knowing that the real truth could put him in jail. "Eh, I don't like to talk about it much. But anyways, what's the matter?"

Charlie quickly straightened up before putting a smile back on his face. "Well, there's a kid that has your last name. Mutou. Yugi Mutou."

Chokichi perked up. '_Before I left, I remembered having a kid. Did she really name him Yugi?' _

"Can I see that paper?" He asked Charlie.

The younger walked over and handed him the paper.

Chokichi took it and started to read it. As he was reading all of the scholarships and awards, an idea popped into his head. He mentally smiled. '_Seventeen years later,' _he thought, '_and this will be my first time ever seeing my son. Goodbye bills, hello new son!' _

XxxxX

So how's that for the prologue?

I gave away tooooo much, but, I hope it don't ruin anything!

Please stay tune in for the first chapter!

Lisa: You better be there!


	2. What's been going on

Okay, for a prologue, that wasn't so bad. Now on to the awesome part!

Chapter one:

_ "Aah!" Yugi screamed as he was being chased down the street of Domino by the one and only, the Pickle __Man. "Leave me alone!" He cried. "I didn't do anything to you!"_

_ The Pickle __Man let out a cruel laugh that echoed around the city. "Exactly why I'm chasing you!" _

_ Yugi glanced over his shoulder. The man had on a pickle costume, completed with the aroma of cucumbers soaked in vinegar. His evil smile was yellowed and a bit green. Probably because he was a pickle and liked to eat pickles. His arms and legs had the leggings of green._

_ The boy turned back and turned a corner, thinking that if he put on a bit more speed, he could out run the pickle. But, he made a mistake. Out of all the turns he could turn to, he ran into a dead end. He ran to a stop in the middle of the alley and started panting from his run._

_ "Crap," he cried out. "Now where do I go?" _

_ A loud noise made him turn around to the entrance. Pickle Man was leaning against the building, panting loudly but had a smirk on his face. "Hahaha, looks like I've got you now!" And started his descend on the poor teenager who didn't have any where to run._

_ Out of instinct, Yugi started to back away. "Wh-what do you want?" And just like that, a huge rock flew from the sky and landed right behind Yugi. He didn't have any time to stop as he fell over and landed on his back. As he was getting to his elbows, the Pickle Man smiled at him._

_ "That is me to know, and you to find out," and he started to reach down. - -_

_XxxxX_

"Yugi! Atem! Time to get up or you're going to be late for school!" A voice yelled, jerking Yugi awake.

He bolted straight up in bed, feeling a cold sweat on the back of his neck. His breathing was coming in short pants as he scanned his room.

Everything was still in place like he left it last night. A few text books were scattered around on his floor, opened to certain pages. His homework either on his book or on his desk. His uniform for school was hanging neatly on his closet door, waiting to be put on. His room was always cleaned, but he had a late night last night. Everything was still the same and most importantly, he was still in his room.

He let out a sigh of relief. "Thank Ra." He was about to fall back against his bed when his door suddenly opened.

Atem was standing in the door way, halfly dressed. He had on his pants and his long sleeved shirt was still hanging open, waiting to be buttoned up. He had on a concerned look. "Are you alright, Yugi?" He asked.

The boy nodded, forgetting that his darker half could feel whatever emotion he was feeling and vice versa. Right now, he was feeling fear and was a bit jumpy. "Y-yeah, sorry, just that dream again."

His brother nodded and walked into the room to sit on the bed, all the while buttoning up this shirt. He scanned the room, noticing all of the books still out. "Late night?"

Yugi rubbed his tired eyes and stifled a yawn. "Yup. I don't even remember falling asleep, much less laying on my bed." He looked down and noticed that he was still wearing yesterday's clothes.

"You know, if you did your homework in class, you wouldn't have to stay up so late. That or doing homework after dinner."

"Hey! It's not my fault you got all the brains!" Yugi pouted. Even though they weren't real twins, it did feel like Atem inherited all of the smartness, leaving only partly smartness left for Yugi. Well, it did have its ups and downs. He was really good in history, science and English (Japanese, lol) while Atem was really good in everything else, including P.E. For Yugi, it was always like that.

The other chuckled. "It's not my fault I'm just naturally smart." Yugi groaned and playfully pushed him. "Anyways, you need to get ready for school."

"Uuugh," he groaned again and fell back against his pillows. "Just kill me now. I didn't even finish the homework. Mrs. Heko is gonna kill me when she finds out I didn't finish the math sheet!" ((By the way, this is their senior year so new teachers.))

Atem got to his feet and smirked at his Light. "You could always get Tea to help you. You know she wouldn't mind."

Yugi blushed a light pink. He and Tea had been going out for a little over two months now. Everyone said it was about time. Just one day, Yugi found the courage to ask her out. She admitted that she was confused about who she loved, him or Atem, but came to understanding that she loved Yugi from the very start.

Atem started to walk towards the door. Without even looking back, he said, "And here he comes. Three . . . two . . . one . . ." He stepped out of the way just as a blurry thing ran into the room, straight for an unprepared Yugi.

"Eep!" He cried out as it jumped onto the bed and crashed into him. "I-Iggi!" Yugi giggled as his dog started to cover him in kisses. Yugi kept turning his head away, trying to escape from dying of the kisses, but the dog kept licking him. He heard a chuckle come from Atem.

"Igggggggi!" Yugi whined. He started to gently push him off, trying to sit up. After a minute of trying, he finally succeeded and had to hold his pup down.

"Arf!" Iggi barked with his tongue hanging out. His tail was wagging ferociously against the bed.

Yugi sighed and started to pet him. His puppy was still a puppy, but bigger. He came just a bit above his knees since his legs grew out.

"I'm happy to see you too," he told him and kissed the top of his head before sending a playful glare at his other. "You could have helped!"

Atem just shook his head with a good nature smile. "Nope. I can't get in the way of a speeding dog, especially when he wants to see his owner." He started to leave the room. "Don't forget to get ready."

Yugi sighed before getting out of bed. "I rather skip school today!" He called back. Though, everyone knew that he wouldn't, he would feel too guilty about it all and end up going to school. He didn't quite hear Atem's reply as he went back to his own room to get ready. So, he got to work getting ready for school.

He decided to start packing up all of his books and homework into his bag first so he wouldn't forget it. Then he went to go change. Iggi followed him wherever he went and waited right next to the bathroom door when Yugi went to take a shower.

Once he was changed and had his belongings packed into his school bag, the two ventured downstairs for breakfast.

Grandpa was reading the morning paper while sipping a cup of tea.

"Morning, Jii-chan," Yugi greeted and hugged his grandpa.

The elderly man looked up. "Oh ho! Good morning, Yugi. Did you sleep well?"

Yugi got down the bag of dog food for Iggi and fed him his breakfast. "Yup. Though, I honestly don't remember going to sleep last night. I was working on my homework."

Grandpa rolled his eyes as he watched his grandson bring two bowls down from the cabinet and two spoons out from the drawer. He set one pair aside and brought the other to the table where he poured himself some cheerio's and went off to go get the milk.

"Honestly Yugi, you need to start doing your homework a lot earlier. You stay up well after hours trying to finish it, but you don't and you fall asleep." Grandpa scowled him.

Yugi frowned and came back with the milk carton. He sat down and poured the milk in and set the carton aside. "I know. But, it's so boring to do it when the sun is still out. I rather be outside than in." He pouted and started to eat his breakfast.

Grandpa nodded in understanding. "I guess I can relate to that. I never liked doing homework either." He took a sip of his tea as Atem then entered the room.

"Morning, Jii-chan." Like Yugi, he hugged the elderly man.

"Good morning, Atem. Did you sleep well or stay up all night long for homework too?"

"Hey! I didn't stay up all night!" Yugi protested, receiving a few chuckles.

Atem grabbed the extra bowl that Yugi had got down and walked over to the table. "Nope, I finished mine during school yesterday." He said, smiling. He poured himself some cereal and milk and started to eat.

The three men started to talk about what they were going to be doing this weekend. Iggi was munching away with his dog food, and the clock slowly ticked by.

By the time the two teens finished eating and cleaned their dishes, they still had plenty of time to get to school so they decided to leave early.

"Bye Jii-chan!" Both boys said as they left the shop. Grandpa walked out with them, proclaiming that he needed to sweep the porch. He waved to them and watched them go. Inside, Iggi had just enough time to run up to Yugi's room and bark his farewell through the opened window before they got any further.

Yugi looked back and smiled to his pup. He waved before turning back around.

"Oh, and Atem," Yugi looked over to his dark.

"Yes?"

"I'm going to be staying after school today to get some help on that math project." He said with a huff. "It's due next week and I'm still lost on all of it."

Atem chuckled lightly. "Do you want me to help you with it? I won't mind."

Yugi shook his head, "Don't you have your own project to worry about?"

"Nope. I finished mine already."

Yugi's eyes widen. "How? We just got that project a week ago!"

The older teen shrugged. "I was working on mine. And it's not that hard, it's rather easy."

"That's because you're smart in math." He crossed his arms against his chest in a playful manner. "Man, why couldn't I be the one smart in math? That's so unfair!"

"Maybe the Gods just liked me best," Before Atem ended up getting hit, someone called them out.

Joey came running up to him with his uniform on and backpack slung over his shoulder. "Hey guys!"

"Hey, Joey," the Mutou's said in unison.

"Y'all left earlier than usual." The blond said as he came to a stop next to them and the three started to walk towards school.

Atem shrugged. "Just got everything done and didn't want to spend time at home."

Yugi nodded before asking his blond friend, "Oh, hey Joey, did you finish your math homework from yesterday?"

The blond smiled real big. "Hell yeah!"

"Are you sure you're the one who finished it?" A voice asked coming up to them. Tristan came over and started walking on Atem's free side.

"Uh, of course!" Joey said though you could tell he was lying by the way he was talking. "I worked all night on it!"

"Right, well Yugi, there's your answer." Tristan chuckled. "He probably got some junior to help him like he did on last week's homework."

"Hey!" Joey protested, "That girl is smart! She could probably be in college already if she wanted too. And she offered to help."

Yugi rolled his eyes. "You know, if you get her to do all of your homework, then when it comes time for the test, you won't know what to do." Both Joey and Tristan groaned leaving Yugi to frown. "What?"

"You've been hanging around Tea to much!" Tristan said.

"You sound just like her!"

Yugi thought over what he said and realized that that was true. "Oh, oops. Sorry guys," he smiled. Besides school and chores, he would always spend his time with Tea. He always felt happy when he was around her. Especially when she accepted when he asked her out

"And speaking of the devil," Joey said with a grin as Tea walked up to them.

"Hey guys," She took her spot next to Yugi and pecked him on the cheek.

"Hey, Tea," Everyone greeted her.

Yugi took her hand in his and they walked to school like that.

When they got to school, they all went off to homeroom. Luckily, they all had the same teacher. Yugi sat down next to Tea and Joey and Atem sat across them with Tristan by his side. Ryou was already there and was reading a book but when the five arrived, he put it down.

"Good morning!" He said cheery. Though, he wasn't as cheerful as he usually is. Something looked to be bugging him when he sort of pouted.

Yugi tilted his head. "You alright there, Ryou?"

"What'd he do this time?" Joey asked. He sat sideways in his chair and propped his chin on his elbow.

The silver hair shook his head. "He brought another cat home even though I said he couldn't."

Joey and Tristan couldn't help but laugh. "Geez, Ryou, you sounded like a mom!" Tristan commented.

Ryou blushed a light pink.

"So what'd you say to him?" Tea asked, wondering what they did with the cat.

"I told him to put it back where he found it. Though, he wasn't too thrilled by that."

"So why are you down for?" Atem asked. He also found it amusing that Bakura, the King of Thieves would bring fluffy little cats home.

"Well, this morning when I woke up to go to school, the house was full of cats. There must have been at least fifteen!" Ryou exclaimed. "Apparently, Bakura spent all night searching for cats just so that he would be able to keep one, at least." He looked at the book he was reading and closed his eyes in defeat. He reopened them when Yugi spoke.

"Did you let him?" Yugi asked.

His head slumped down. "Yes. There wasn't much left I could do. If I had said no, he would have continued on and would have made a little war out of it."

Atem smiled as the bell rung for students to start going to their classes. "You do know though, that in Egypt, modern or ancient, that we worshipped the cats. Well, more as revered than worshipped."

Joey frowned. "Why? I thought y'all worshipped the Gods."

Tea smacked the blonds arm and Yugi answered, "They did. But they respected the cats because they kept away all of the snakes and mice and everything like that in homes and temples. Also crops." ((A/N Yes, I did research XD))

Tristan tilted his head to the side and looked over to Ryou. "So, do you have those kinds of things in your house?"

His eyes widened a bit. "Oh god no. But, if we did, it wouldn't be a problem now that we have a cat."

They all laugh and the final bell rung, signaling that school had begun. They teacher was the last to walk into the room and immediately started taking attendance while the now full room started to talk among themselves.

As the group of friends started to talk, a group of girls started to walk over to them, most of them giggling and with one deeply blushing girl. They came to a stop and both groups stopped talking, though two girls were softly whispering.

"Hi," Tea said cheerfully.

When the one girl blushing deeply didn't respond, one of her friends gives her a gentle shove and whispered loudly, "Ask him!"

Finally, she did. She looked at Atem and stuttered out, "Um, h-hi Atem." She nervously said. "I was wondering . . ." She looked back at her friends, who gave them an encouraging smile before looking back and continuing, "I was wondering if y-you could help me with my math homework." She stood waiting for his response, twirling her fingers with her school uniform.

Atem smiled before standing up. "Yeah, sure." He excused himself from his group of friends and left with the other group to go and help.

Joey snickered once they left. Tristan joined in and said, "It must be his charm that has all the girls over him."

Yugi rolled his eyes. Though, it was probably true. On his first day of high school being a normal kid, more than half the girls were all over him.

_**Flashback:**_

_"Are you sure they won't remember me?" Atem asked as he and his newly found brother was walking to school. It was Atem's first time going back and he was nervous._

_ Yugi rolled his eyes. "That's what the note said." He said, referring to the note that the god of Ra sent them. "No one, except for a few people, will remember you. You are re-starting your life."_

_ Atem bit his lip. Before leaving for the Afterlife, he didn't really have that many friends because he was focused on his and Yugi's group. He didn't mind, because they went through a lot and he trusted them. But now, he was allowed to make his own friends, though he would never replace the others. Only bad thing was, he did have a few friends before but now, they might not remember him. _

_ They continued to walk towards school and before they knew it, they were in the school's office. Yugi walked up to the counter where a woman wearing too much make-up was busy typing away on her keyboard. When she noticed the newcomers, she stopped and said in such a cheery voice, "Hi, how many I help you?"_

_ Yugi smiled back and felt Atem right behind him. "Hi! Well, my brother is new here and was wanting his schedule for school."_

_ The lady looked behind him and almost let out a small gasp. She looked bac__k and forth from the two look alikes before finally resting her gaze on Yugi. "My goodness. I didn't know you had a twin brother, Yugi. You never told me before."_

_ Like rehearsed, Yugi explained with a smile. "I didn't know either. It appeared that when my mom gave birth, she didn't know she was giving birth to twins. We think the doctor took him away and shipped him off to Egypt."_

_ The lady looked like someone just slapped her. "Oh my goodness."_

_ Yugi nodded. "And it wasn't until just a month ago we accidently bumped into each other. Atem came here for a class field trip. And that's when my mom and grandpa started researching."_

_ Atem gave her a charming smile. "It's a rather complicated story."_

_ The lady nodded, trying to snap out of her wonder land when she looked back to Atem. Yugi stifled a giggle when he noticed a light shade of pink cross her cheeks. "Uh yes, let me find you your schedule, Mr. Cutie – I mean Mr. Mutou." She quickly corrected herself._

_ A few minutes later, Atem was starring at his freshly printed schedule with Yugi peering over his schedule. "I have home room first period and then P.E. then anatomy and English as my second language." ((A/N don't ask. ;P ))_

_ Yugi smiled. "Hey, it looks like all of our classes are the same. But, I have __anatomy tomorrow. So it seems our schedules are similar for the most part!" _

_ Atem nodded and slipped the paper into his back pocket as the__y descended down the hall way to get to class. There were only a few people throughout the place and everyone they passed by, the people stopped talking long enough to gawk at the two twins. And then the whispering started but the twins were talking and didn't really seem to notice._

_ "Joey, Tea, Tristan, and Ryou have the same classes as you, don't they?" _

_ "Kind of. After P.E., we all kind of venture off though we all have lunch together. Then on the last class, we have the same. Tomorrow, we have the same type classes with teachers, but it's all mixed up. I have like, one class with Ryou then one only with Joey." He said._

_ As they continued to walk__, Yugi started to take notice of a few girls following them. He understood why when they never took their eyes at his partner and were whispering to each other. He started to chuckle._

_ Atem took his gaze from posters on the walls. "Why are you laughing?"_

_ Yugi just shook his head. "Oh, you'll find out soon enough." And he took off skipping down the hall leaving a confused once Pharaoh with a group of growing girls._

_ That day, Atem was followed by everyone from a freshman girl, to a senior girl. In each class, he had to introduce himself. _

_ In homeroom the bell had just rung and the teacher, confused about the two look alikes, had asked Atem to come up to the front of the class and introduce himself._

_ "Well, I'm Atem Mutou." He said, a bit embarrassed and nervous. "As you can see I'm Yugi's twin brother."_

_ "So, who has the better looks?" A certain someone with blond hair shouted out, receiving a smack from Tea._

_ Atem smiled as the rest of the class snickered. _

_ "So, where are you from?" A girl in the second row asked._

_ "Egypt." He replied._

_ The girl tilted her head and looked him over, noticing his white skin. "But you don't look Egyptian." _

_ He shrugged. A few days after he arrived in Japan, his darkened skin started to fade. He had to admit, he was sad by the leave, but now he blended in better. _

_ He was asked a few more simple questions about 'are you as good at card games as Yugi?' and 'What's Egypt like' and so on._

_ And that was pretty much how his first two days of school went by. That and he had a lot of girls asking him out. He politely declined them all though._

**End of Flashback:**

Yugi had just enough time to snap himself out of his memories when his other came back. He sat down quietly and by what he was feeling, Yugi looked at him questioningly.

"What happened?" Yugi asked quietly. The rest of the group wasn't paying attention as they started to talk.

Atem shrugged and said, "Same old same old." Meaning that the girls bombarded him with 'Will you go out with me?' questions. "Though, I did help Jesca ((Jess-ca is how you say it!)) with her math homework. She was having a lot of trouble."

Yugi nodded. "Did she also ask you out too?"

He shook his head. "Her friends were trying to get her too, but she was more focus on her homework." He smiled.

Just then, the teacher called for silence and the day began for them.

XxxxX

Till next time! And please tell me if I'm missing something or I didn't explain something. That would help me a whole bunch! ^^

Lisa: Hikari, talk to me! Please, speak! I can't have you saying on me! SAY SOMETHING!

Okay, how 'bout 'I'M NOT GOING TO DIE! ….

Lisa: *Tears in eyes* you're alright!

You are such a drama queen! I was nowhere even CLOSE to dying.

Lisa: But but but, you were in a car accident! Don't most people die from them?

Not really. Just depends where you get hit and how hard.

Sorry guys, I was in a car accident Saturday night and would have had this chapter updated then. But, yeah…. So much was happening. Sorry it wasn't up sooner :p

Yugi: Not only the accident, but you were also busy painting you room and school and Easter. Not to mention that your power went out last night too.

Right, what he said. But, don't worry, I'm fine with everything! Just a few painful bruises. :p The car got the worst of it. ((And, Happy Easter!))

Lisa: …. What would have happened if you _did _die? Huh? Then what?

Uh… I guess I wouldn't have finished the story. *Shrugs*

Lisa: Annnnnd….?

Uh…. You would have been lonely?

Lisa: DUH!

Well, don't even worry about it, Lisa, I'm perfectly fine. Nothin serious. Alright?

Lisa:…..

Oh, and for reviewing my anonymous readers:

**Couldn'tThinkOfaName: **Why thank you! ^^ And, it's alright, I don't mind. Thanks for sticking to both my stories! You're awesome! And not some weirdo! ;)

**akizaki14: **Sorry you had to wait so long! But, it's up now! I'll try not to wait as long for the next chapter!


	3. The Pole Did It!

Hey everyone! ^^

You know what I just found out? This story won't really be as long as His Decision. L The plot is coming in really fast and I'm trying to figure out ways to just slow it down a pinch. But, I'm running out of things. Writers block is not a fun thing to be in. But, I'll try to let it last.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Chapter Two:

"Almost done." Chokichi muttered under his breath as he packed his suitcase. He packed a few clean shirts and a black and blue suit. "Never know what I'll need, and packing a few extra clothes might be what I need." He walked over to his closet and pulled out a pair of black business shoes.

He lived in a small house just a few miles away from his work. Really, there was no point in him owning a house since he was always working. But, he had one. Since he was always at work, his house was always cleaned. His bed always made, kitchen and bathroom always spotless and carpet clean. He never really liked having a dirty house.

Chokichi walked back to the black suitcase and neatly placed the shoes in. He took a step back and examined the bag.

"Clothes, shoes, money . . . what else am I forgetting?" And just like that, a little light popped into his mind. "Passport. Now where did I leave that damn thing?" And he went off in search for the paper.

XxxxX

_"Good morning, Mr. Maxwell." Chokichi slightly bowed before his boss who was seated in a big, comfy chair behind his desk. _

_ "Ah, Mr. Mutou." The man, Mr. Maxwell said. "What can I do for you today?" Mr. Maxwell was a little plump man in about his fifties. The hair that he had, which was only on the sides, making him look like he had a horseshoe cut, was graying, making him have salt and pepper hair. He crossed his hands and rested them on his slightly bulging stomach as he watched the man in front of him through his blue eyes. _

_ Chokichi fidgeted a bit. He hated asking his boss to do something for him, even though his boss was a jolly old man, making him think of Santa Claus. "Well, you see, I was wondering if I could go visit my son in Japan. I have never met him before and - -,"_

_ Mr. Maxwell frowned and interrupted him. "Son? I didn't know you had a son."_

_ "Yes, sir."_

_ "How old is he?" He asked, kind of curious. _

_ "He is seventeen." He replied, knowing only because of the paper Charlie had shown his two days ago. _

_ Mr. Maxwell raised an eyebrow and leaned forward a bit. "And you say you have never met him? How so? He's your son."_

_ "Well, I did meet him when he was born, but not for very long." Chokichi said. "Me and my wife had this big argument. It's been so long I don't remember what it was about. But, we said some things to each other, horrible things that I ended up leaving. I moved here and have never heard from them since. I have been thinking of them quite frequently and wish to see them."_

_ "Why haven't you thought of this sooner, Mr. Mutou?"_

_ "I didn't think they wanted to see me." He faked the depression in his voice. Man, was it so easy to lie to people these days. "I kept rethinking what I said to Miyuki and felt horrible. I thought . . . I didn't think she wanted to see me again. But now, I really want to see her. I miss her desperately and just want her back."_

_ His boss nodded and scratched his chin. He himself always said that family was important and that you should always be blessed to have them. "So how long are you going to be gone for?"_

_ Chokichi mentally sighed. "Well, a few days. Maybe I'll even bring them back here so you could meet them." He replayed what he was going to do over in his mind. Of course he couldn't tell his boss because that would have him thrown in jail so he just smiled. _

_ Mr. Maxwell grinned. "Well, that would be pleasant if I could meet the son of a hard working man. Please bring them back so I can meet him. Oh, and your wife. I'll give you a two weeks' vacation but no more than that."_

_ "Thank you, Mr. Maxwell. I'll try to be back before then." He bowed and walked out of the room, grinning to himself. _

_ '_Now, I just have to go to Japan, bring my son back, and I'll be able to pay off those debts before the come and find me.' _He thought grimly. _

_XxxxX_

Chokichi walked back into his room with his passport in hand. He was just making his way over to the suitcase when the house phone rang. Mentally growling, he walked over to the phone and looked at the caller ID.

"This better be important, Leroid." He growled into the phone. "You know I'm trying to leave to get that brat of mine."

_"I know. But Kyo was wanting to know how long it's going to take." _The other voice said, a bit impatient.

"I don't know, a couple of days? A week at max?"

The other voice huffed before saying, _"Dude, Kyo is getting impatient. You borrowed ten thousand dollars for whatever shit you needed it for and you promised you'd pay him back. Where's the money?"_

Chokichi rubbed his temples as he felt a head-ache forming. "Just tell him its coming. I'll give it to him sooner or later."

"_Well, it better be sooner than later. If you don't pay him back, he'll have your heart stop faster than you can count to one."_ And the phone clicked off.

He put the phone down. "Shit," he mumbled to himself. Before he knew it, he punched the wall with his fist. "I forgot all about that debt! Now I have to collect thirty thousand dollars. Twenty to pay my normal bills and the ten thousand to pay back from trying to keep _from _going bankrupt. Damn it all to hell! That brat of mine better have enough to cover all of this or he won't be so lucky."

The man walked over to his suitcase to finish packing, all the while grumbling about the cars he owned in the past and how they caused his to go into debt.

XxxxX

"Finally, I can go home!" Yugi said as he walked out of the school building. He stretched his stiff back and looked around. He had stayed after school to get some help on his math project. He was supposed to do that two days ago, but the teacher was sick so he had to wait. Yugi glanced around and noticed not that many people were still here. Teachers were leaving the building and going to their cars and the only students still here were leaving.

He glanced down at his watch and felt a small rumble. "It's six-thirty. So, Grandpa and Atem should be having dinner right now." He wondered what they were having as he started off the steps. Knowing Yugi, he wasn't paying any attention to where he was walking as he accidently bumped into someone.

He stumbled back and looked up from his watch. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

"Oh, no worries." A familiar voice said and Yugi's blood ran cold as he stared up into his gray-blue eyes. Danny Hilmon stared at him with a wicked grin. He crossed his arms over his chest. Danny used to be the new kid to the school because he kept getting into fights at his old ones. Then, and even now, he is a bully and picked on kids because he could. "I know how you're going to pay."

Yugi stood his ground and said, "Excuse me, but I need to get home." He tried walking around the kid, but Danny stepped to the side and wouldn't let him pass.

"Sorry shorty, but can't do that." Yugi felt like yelling. He wasn't that short anymore! He was just an inch smaller than Atem! But he kept his mouth shut as the bully continued. "You see, I was just thinking about you."

Yugi felt something stir inside his stomach. That can't be a good thing. A bully thinking about you. "Why?"

The older kid shrugged his shoulder. "Oh, there's something I needed to tell you." He took a step forward in which Yugi took one step back. Danny smiled a bit wider. He took another step.

"What did you need to tell me?" Yugi asked, noticing that Danny was trying to lead him to the side of the school. There, Danny could do whatever he wanted and get away with it because there were no cameras and no one was around. Everyone had already gone home. He took a step back as Danny kept coming forward.

Once out of sight and in the shadows of the building, Danny stopped and Yugi took another two steps back and stopped. They stared at each other, Danny smiling and Yugi sort of glaring and wishing he wasn't here right now.

"You see, I was really needing you to pass a message to your brother for me."

"Why don't you just tell him yourself?"

In a second, Yugi was standing there, the next, he was on the ground, holding his cheek. Danny didn't like his answer so he punched him in the face. "Cause I don't really want to, that's why." He said. He watched as the boy got up but then quickly kneed Yugi in the stomach.

'_Why does this always happen to me?' _Yugi thought, struggling to get up. He felt fear creep its way through him, messing with his emotions.

His inner voice started to talk back to him, "Why don't you just fight back? It's not that hard. If you fought back, maybe then people wouldn't mess with you as much."

Yugi mentally shook his head. '_Violence is never the answer.' _He remembered back when he was younger and he kept getting beat up by bullies. The bullies always asked him why he never fought back and he told him. Violence isn't the answer. It never solves anything. '_And no one ever messes with me anymore . . .'_ he thought. It was true; the last time he got beat up was a few years ago. Then no one really messed with him, even when he was alone.

Standing on his feet, Yugi glared up at Danny. "What's your message?" He spat, trying to control his thoughts. Even under the worst of circumstances, he would never raise a fist. Back then, he would never raise his voice above a whisper. Now, he didn't care. He wasn't the same kid from back then. Joey and Atem and Tristan and Tea all changed him from being timid and weak to being courageous and strong.

Danny frowned, kind of mad that his prey didn't coward before him. He shrugged his shoulders and punched the risen boy before saying, "Tell that brother of yours to stop taking all of the girls away." With Yugi on the ground he kicked the boy in the side as hard as he could. "Tell him that by tomorrow, he needs to stop that stupid 'charm' of his. All of the girls are always with or around him. Or they always talk about him. It's rather annoying!"

Yugi smirked and looked up. His sides felt like they were on fire but he still managed to smile. "You can't exactly stop looking charming. It's not his fault that he actually looks good while you don't." And he received another kick. He breathed heavily through his mouth.

Danny growled out, "And what is that supposed to mean, punk?"

Using the side of the building, Yugi stood up and clutched his side. "The reason why Atem has a lot of people liking him is not only his looks but his personality too. He's friendly and respects people. He doesn't pick on people because he can or wants to. Maybe if you weren't rude to people and didn't bully other kids, you could have girls liking you too."

Danny thought for a minute. "You know, maybe you're right." Yugi looked hopeful and a bit shocked. He didn't really think that would work. He thought too soon. "But, I don't really care if you are. Just give that brother of yours my message. And if you don't, prepare to relive your past." He balled his hand into a fist and started to come down on the kid to punch him in the nose when something suddenly grabbed him and literally threw him towards the building where he landed in a heap.

"The hell?" He screamed as he quickly got to his feet.

Yugi stared at the new person with shock.

"You know, have you ever heard the saying, 'Pick on Someone Your Own Size?'" Bakura asked, crossing his pale arms against his chest as he glared at the dark haired boy.

Danny lashed out, "Huh, have you ever heard the saying, 'Mind Your Own Business'?" He ran towards the white-hair but before he could attack, Bakura, in one swift motion, side stepped him and held his arm out. Danny ran into his arm, causing him to fall back down with the air knocked out of him.

Bakura shrugged. "I have, but I'm always in people's business. If I weren't, then I wouldn't be me. And when you start messing with my brother's friend, then it certainly _is _my business."

Danny got back to his feet and glared daggers at him. "You're a piece of shit, you know that?"

The Thief King literally yawned at that statement. "Takes one to know one, buddy."

The bully shook his head with a snort. "Full of shit. That's what you are." He then turned to the boy he was just messing with and growled, "Deliver that message for me or expect more." He didn't give Yugi a chance to talk back as he turned on the ball of his feet and quickly disappeared from sight.

Yugi glared after him for a minute before turning to Bakura. "What're you doing here?" He asked. He slowly bent down and grabbed his backpack that had slipped off of his back and dusted it off before putting it back on. His whole body felt sore, but his face the worst. A bruise must be forming from all of the pain and it was definitely swollen.

The Thief King shrugged his shoulders as he watched the teen dust his bag off. "Looking. Why were you at school so late, Mutt?"

Yugi sighed out of irritation. Bakura still used that little nickname from when he was turned into a dog a few years back. "I stayed after school for some help. What were you looking for?"

"Have you seen Ryou?" He suddenly asked, as he scanned the primacies of the school. He had a sort of impatience stance to him and the way he looked around, made it look like he was eager to find his hikari.

Yugi shook his head. "I know he was staying after school to get a bit of help on his science homework. He was sick last week and missed a lot - -,"

"Yeah yeah, I know that. But, have you seen him? Is he still in school?" He cut him off and looked towards the school.

"No, school is out. It lasts till six-fifteen for tutorials and sometimes till six-thirty." He looked down at his watched to see that it was ten till seven. Not a good sign. He looked back up. "All of the teachers are gone, anyways. But, I do remember seeing Ryou leave school before me. He walked past my class right before I was do—Ah!" He was cut off by the silver hair grabbing him by the back collar of his jacket and started to walk away, basically dragging him along with him. "H-hey! What're you doing?"

"Walking you home." Was his short response. He walked out from the side of the building as the sun started to fade over the horizon. No one, and I repeat, no one was out. Not even teachers. They all had gone home. Soon, little glittering specks appeared in the sky as the orange-y pink darkened to become a light purple.

They walked off of the schools ground and onto the sidewalk.

"I can walk on my own," Yugi mumbled as he tried to wiggle from the others grasp but to no avail. Bakura didn't loosen his grasp. "Okay, fine, you can continue holding on . . ."

The yami of Ryou seemed to ignore Yugi as they continued walking. He held on to Yugi and would lead him wherever. Yugi had crossed his arms against his chest and pouted. ((A/N that would be cute to watch! xD ))

After a couple of minutes, Yugi said, "Why did you save me? I thought you hated me."

Bakura shrugged and muttered, "If I didn't do anything, Ryou would have been complaining and he would have gone over the edge and whatnot."

Yugi nodded and didn't say anything. They stayed quiet for a while, Yugi wondering what he was going to say to everyone tomorrow when they notice the bruise on his cheek.

"Why were you looking for Ryou?" Yugi suddenly asked, bored of the quietness.

They turned a corner and were now on Yugi's street. "He didn't come home. I didn't know where he was. I went looking for him." All of his sentences short and simple. "Anymore questions you wanna ask?"

Yugi thought for a minute. "None that I can think of at the moment." He grinned.

"Whatever." They continued walking and by the time Bakura stopped at the game shop, the porch light was on and the sky a now dark purple.

Bakura let Yugi's jacket go and started to walk away when Yugi stopped him. "So what is the price I'm going to pay for you saving me?" he asked. Always remember that when a thief king saves you or an enemy of yours saves you, they will always ask you for something.

He looked over his shoulder and smiled. "What, don't think I just saved you out of the kindness of my heart?" Yugi raised an eyebrow, which was hard and he wanted to cry out in pain. But he didn't. "Hehe, you're smart, Mutt. But, when the time comes, you'll know. Trust me. You'll know." Bakura turned around and stuffed his hands into his jeans pocket and started to walk away. Yugi could hear him humming a tune that he couldn't quite place.

"I don't like the sound of that . . ." Yugi mumbled as he turned around and went to the door.

XxxxX

The game shop was dark. Grandpa always closed it at six-thirty so that he could spend supper with his family. So Yugi quietly made his way through the room and to the door where he opened it. He slipped his shoes off and started for the stairs.

The smell of dinner wafted through the house. The smell of mashed potatoes, steak, cooked carrots and rolls made his stomach grumble. It was American night tonight, and Grandpa always had fun researching foods to cook. Last time, they had friend chicken, baked potatoes and gravy.

As he made it to the stairs, in a hurry to get upstairs so he didn't have to answer grandpa or Atem about where he had been or where he got the bruise, grandpa called out, "Is that you, Yugi?"

Yugi paused with one foot on the steps. "Y-yeah. Sorry I'm late." He started to slowly go up the stairs.

"Wondering where you were. Well, we haven't eaten supper yet. We were waiting for you."

He paused yet again, guilt entering his mind. They waited for him and there he was, getting beat up. "Uh . . . sorry, but I'm not really hungry. I had a . . . big lunch today." He quickly lied. "Sorry."

He heard his grandpa chuckle. "That's alright. But, if you get hungry, just come on down. There will be leftovers. Your mother had to stay late at work so she won't be coming home until late."

He nodded. "Okay. Well, I'm going up to bed. Night." And he quickly ran up the remaining steps and towards his room.

His room was dark when he entered it. Yugi walked in and closed the door behind him as he leaned against the door. He sighed in relief. "Thank Ra he didn't see it yet."

"See what?"

Yugi nearly jumped ten feet into the air by the voice. He quickly flipped the light switch on and quickly looked down so his bruise didn't show.

Atem was leaning against the wall next to the window with his arms crossed at his chest. He wasn't smiling but frowning. His eyes showed anger but also concern. He was still wearing his school uniform minus the jacket.

"H-hey Atem. What're you doing in here?" Yugi asked, trying to play it cool. He walked over to his bed and took his back pack off, all the while looked down.

"Waiting for you." Atem simply said. "Where were you, Yugi?"

"In tutorials. I told you earlier today I was staying after school to get some help."

"Yes, but that was almost forty minutes ago. Tutorials end at six-thirty." Atem said. "And it doesn't take forty minutes to walk home, even when you walk the long route."

Yugi looked down at his bag. "Well, I met up with someone and we were talking." He said. Suddenly, he felt his darker half next to him.

"Why do you look down when you speak?" Atem asked, slightly confused. He gently grabbed Yugi's chin and pulled it to face him. Yugi didn't meet his eyes but he didn't need to look to know that his brother was narrowing his crimson eyes in a dangerous way and that his body went rigid. "What happened?" He demanded when he noticed the bruise.

Yugi flinched slightly from his tone. "I . . . I . . ." _'Crap! Think of something!' _ "I ran into a pole." His brain thought up. '_Really? Was that the best I could come up with? A pole?' _He thought, annoyed that he couldn't come up with something more realistic.

"A pole?" Atem asked. Softer than a feather, he gently ran his thumb over the broken skin and Yugi flinched like a scared cat. "Do you really believe me to believe that a pole did this to you?"

Yugi pulled away and shrugged. "Believe what you want. But that is the truth." Behind his back to where Atem couldn't see, he crossed his fingers. "I was walking home with a friend and I accidently ran into a pole."

Suddenly, Atem said in a low voice, "Who exactly were you walking with?" Yugi didn't answer. He knew his other would definitely blame Bakura for all of this when in fact; the certain silver hair had nothing to do with it. "Yugi, please tell me who you walked home with." He said I a stern voice.

Yugi sighed. "I walked home with Bakura." Atem was about to start yelling when Yugi met his eyes and quickly continued. "No, he didn't do anything! He was at the school looking for Ryou when he bumped into me. We started walking here when I bumped into the pole. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be standing here right now." Half of that was pure true. "W-when I bumped into the pole, I accidently stumbled back into the street, but before a car could hit me, he pulled me out of the street. It's thanks to him I'm right here breathing and that I made it home safe."

Atem didn't say anything for a few minutes. Yugi wanted to poke him to see if he would do anything. He could almost picture little wheels turning in his brother's mind.

Finally, Atem gave a curt nod and said, "Alright. I believe you." But from his eyes, Yugi knew he didn't. "Put some ice on our cheek to help with the swelling." He said. He turned around and walked over to the door.

Once he opened the door, he paused and looked over his shoulder. Yugi wanted to flinch from the hurt in his eyes. In a sad but dull voice, Atem mumbled, "remember, Yugi, whatever you feel, I feel it too." With that, he left the room.

Yugi slapped his forehead and sat on the edge of his bed. He closed his eyes. "Crap!" he mumbled under his breath. "How could I forget about that?" He remembered earlier that he felt scared when he ran into Danny. No doubt Atem had too. That and he felt him lying.

"Arf?"

Yugi opened his eyes to find Iggi looking up at him with sad blue eyes. He was sitting there, not wagging his tail or happy in anyway.

"Hey, Iggi," Yugi mumbled. He patted a spot next to him and his dog jumped up beside him. Yugi laid down on his bed and Iggi laid his head on his owners stomach and curled up against him.

"Oh Iggi . . . why does this always have to happen to me?" Yugi whispered and scratched his dog's ear. He received a low moan in return.

With his free hand, he gently touched the bruise on his face and winced. He didn't feel like going downstairs to get ice. Not that he was lazy, but he didn't feel like lying to Grandpa too.

He closed his eyes and continued to pet Iggi.

XxxxX

Aww, I find it cute that Iggi feels whatever Yugi is feeling. So cute.

Well, sorry I didn't update sooner. If you didn't hear, my hard drive was corrupted and I lost my chapter… :/ So, I had to rewrite it. It sucked! :0 But, I guess it was a good thing. First time writing it, Yugi was more of a wimp when he was getting beat up. So, yeah.

Lisa: I like this one better.

Eh, I kind of do too. ^^ I hope y'all liked it. It's not the best, so yeah. Feel free to correct me on things if you noticed anything. :p

R&R please! XD


	4. The Truth

**Edited: June 24th**

Well, that chapter wasn't so bad, was it? ^^

And on with the next chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Chapter three:

"God I hate mornings," Chokichi groaned as he stuffed his bag into the bag compartment on the plane. He had been up since three A.M. to get the earliest flight out to Japan, and the earliest flight took off at five. So he had been sitting in the airport waiting to finally board the plane. Now that he was on the plane, he was grumbling about early mornings and long plane rides.

"Fourteen damn hours to get there," he mumbled under his breath as he took the window seat thinking about the time it took to get from Texas to Japan. "At least I can get some sleep, even if it's not going to be a nice sleep."

Chokichi got himself situated as best as he could in the planes chair and let his mind wonder. '_First impression is always the most important. After that, it really doesn't matter.' _He thought, going over how he was going to plan everything. '_If that brat is anything like his mother, and the old coot [_Grandpa] _then he'll be a handful. Better be prepared for the worst.' _He let his mind wonder a bit more as he drifted off to sleep.

XxxxX

The next morning was a visit to the past. Yugi woke up and could barely move; the bruises on his stomach and chest felt like someone was pouring boiling water over them. His cheek still felt numb but not as bad as his other bruises which was weird.

Yugi looked down and noticed an ice pack had fallen off and landed next to Iggi who was sitting up and yawning. He slowly picked it up and felt bad. "Atem must have got this for me when I fell asleep." He lowered the now liquid filled bag and sat up. He was stiff in the back and neck from lying sideways on his bed and not moving his position from when he laid down last night. He rubbed his neck.

Iggi whined next to him and started to nose his arm. He looked up at Yugi.

The boy stopped and started to pet the dog. "Great . . . now I have to go to school with this . . ." he muttered to himself. People were not going to be happy about the bruise. "Speaking of school," he looked over to his alarm clock to see that he still had ten minutes to snooze. "Let's get a head start this morning."

Slowly, Yugi got to his feet and started to walk over to his closet. Iggi followed him like a duckling. Once he grabbed his clean uniform and his other things (he has like three uniforms), he walked towards the bathroom to take a shower.

When he opened his door, the hallway was still dark. He looked to his left and noticed that Atem's door was still dark, meaning he was still asleep. Across from him, their mother's door was closed with the light off.

'_At least she came home.'_ Yugi thought and smiled. It was nice having his mother staying at home now instead of always leaving on business trips. Well, she still went on trips, but not as much and as for long. He walked across the hall and entered the dark bathroom. Iggi laid down right outside the door and looked like he was guarding it.

Yugi flipped the switch on and closed the door behind him. When he went to the mirror, he almost gasped out loud. He now understood why Atem had gotten so mad last night. The bruise on his cheek was still purple and had a tiny cut in the middle. It wasn't swelling as bad, thanks to the ice Atem had brought, but it was still swelling a bit. Lightly, he ran his hand over the broken skin. Luckily, he didn't flinch as bad as before. It hurt like a butt, but at least it wasn't as sensitive to the touch.

"Great, there's no hiding this now." He said glumly. He lowered his hand and turned away from the mirror. "Now I'm going to be cornered at school . . ." he thought about how Joey and Tristan would react. Oh no, even worse. Yugi slightly paled. Tea would be beyond pissed. Great.

He took his jacket off and then his shirt and forgot about one little thing. When he looked down at his chest, he left like either fainting or punching the wall. In the middle of his chest was a blackened bruise about the size of baseball. On his stomach, (he has two) was another baseball size bruise. They were black and purple and a bit green around the edges.

Yugi looked away, memories of his years before meeting Atem popping into his head. He quickly undressed and got into the shower, turning the temperature to warm. If it was too hot, like he normally puts it, he would be burning his bruises. And he just couldn't take a cold shower. (A/n who can? I hate cold water unless I'm drinking it! .)

After standing in the shower for a couple of minutes, cleaning himself off and just standing there, he got out and dried himself, being carefully not to aggravate the broken skin. He slipped his clothes on and looked to the mirror. For once, the mirror was not foggy so he didn't have to wipe it down. He closely examined the bruise on his cheek.

'_Maybe I can put a band-aid on it. A big band-aid . . .' _He thought. '_Though, then people would get curious . . .'_ After a few minutes of random thinking, he decided to just leave it be and gathered his dirty clothes and exited the bathroom.

In doing so, he bumped into Atem who was already dressed and was heading downstairs for breakfast.

"Eep!" Yugi started to fall backwards before his darker half caught him by the shoulders and stabled him.

"You alright?" he asked, smiling at his clumsiness.

Yugi nodded. "Sorry," he apologized. He felt a little awkward from their conversation last night so he adverted his gaze.

Atem shrugged. "Well, I heard Jii-chan leave earlier this morning." Yugi looked up, curious. It wasn't even eight and their grandpa was already out doing errands? That doesn't seem normal. Atem noticed. "He told me last night that he had a doctor's appointment and that he had to get up earlier than usual. He wasn't too happy about it."

"Oh, okay. And I wouldn't be either." Yugi smiled. Then he looked over to their mom's closed door. "Do you know what time mom got home at?"

"I'm guessing sometime after I went to bed. I never heard her come in."

"Grrr," Came a voice.

Both teens, at the same time, looked down to see Iggi frowned up at them. He was sitting there and would look from them to the stairs and then back to them. He got up on his back legs and leaned against Atem.

Atem smiled and reached down to pet the pup. "Looks like you're hungry."

Suddenly, Yugi's eyes widen. Sensing his disturbed emotion, Atem quickly looked up, expecting danger or something. What Yugi said made him roll his eyes. "I forgot to feed him last night!"

Iggi made a noise in the back of his throat like, 'Uh huh, you sure did.'

Atem stood back up. "Don't worry, I fed him. He wouldn't stop pacing the living room and it was hard to concentrate on my homework."

"Oh, thank you, Atem!" Yugi said. Atem shrugged, saying it was no big deal. Yugi looked to his clothes then to his bedroom. "Well, I'll be right back. I need to get some things done then I'll meet you guys downstairs."

With that, he quickly went into his room to drop the clothes off in the dirty basket. He heard Atem call for Iggi to follow him and they walked down the stairs. Well, Atem walking, Iggi galloping.

Yugi couldn't help but smile. He was glad that Atem had fallen in love with the puppy also, when he had come back from the Afterlife. He wasn't so sure if he would or wouldn't. But, given the first week, the two had bonded closely. (Though Yugi still more closer to Iggi.)

As he went back to his bed to grab his bag, he bit the inside of his cheek. Atem never even mentioned last night's conversation. It was like nothing happened. '_Did I really hurt him by not telling him?' _he thought, worried. Since he didn't do his homework last night, not like he really had any, he didn't have to pack anything up. He just grabbed the bag and started to walk out of his room.

'_I didn't really mean to lie to him. I don't need him to worry about anything. And anyways,' _he continued thinking, walking slowly down the stairs, '_Danny doesn't scare me. He's just someone looking for trouble.' _

On the last step, he walked towards the kitchen but first tossing his bag towards the door where he could grab it when they leave.

In the kitchen, Iggi was busy munching away on his breakfast as Atem was looking around the fridge.

"Find anything? Yugi piped up and went towards the cabinet for cups.

Atem let out a sigh. "No. looks like Jii-chan forgot to go the store. We have no milk." He closed the fridge and leaned against the counter. Curiously, he watched as his partner walked over to the pantry and started digging around. After a minute, he called out, "Find anything?"

A muffled reply came back and followed by it, Yugi tossed two packages of pop tarts to his other. Atem caught them but kept his attention on Yugi to find him carrying two cans out of the pantry. He went over to the counter where he put the two cups he got out.

"Uh . . . what're you doing, Aibou?" Atem asked, watching Yugi pop the caps of the Dr. Pepper cans and pouring the liquids into the cups. "You know soda isn't good to drink in the mornings."

Yugi turned and grinned, looking much like a ten year old than an almost eighteen. "I know. But, we never get to have it for breakfast because Jii-chan would scowl us. But, since he isn't here, let's take the opportunity and do it!"

Atem rolled his eyes and walked to the table with the pop tarts. Yugi walked over with the two cups of soda.

As they were eating, Yugi started the conversation. "So, did Mana visit you again?" He asked and took a bite of his strawberry pop tart. ((A/n that sounds so good. Pop tarts and Dr. Pepper T.T Great combination))

His brother nodded. "Yup. She told me to tell you that she says hi." Ever since Atem had left the Afterlife, he was always visited by his friends. He didn't know why, but thought of it as a present from the gods. He could speak and talk to his friends from when he was Pharaoh and just hang around and see what's going on. But, it was only at night, when he was asleep.

Yugi thought it was really cool. Atem could be in the Afterlife, even though he was very much alive and communicate with them. The best part about it, while Atem slept, only his mind went. So when he woke up, he would be refreshed and not tired, like a dream.

The ex-pharaoh very much enjoyed it. He could still see the ones he loved most without having to only be in one place. Most of the time, he talked only to Mana and/or Mahad. Occasionally, he would talk to the other priests and his parents. But, Mana and Mahad were the ones to really talk to.

Yugi smiled. "What did you guys talk about this time?"

Atem rolled his eyes and took a sip of his drink. "Me to know and you to find out."

Yugi pouted. "Awwwww, you never tell me!" He dragged the word out for dramatic effects like how kids always do it. Then he paused for a minute and raised an eyebrow. "You've been reading those books again, haven't you?"

"What books?" Atem asked, smiling.

"You have!" He gasped. "I thought we got rid of those books!" He was referring to the books that Atem had found in the book store where it gave tips to the older brother on how to annoy your younger siblings. Annoy in the good way. Yugi didn't really appreciate those books.

"You did." He simply replied and took a bite of his brown sugar pop tarts. "But that didn't mean I didn't get to read the books first."

Yugi groaned. Why did Grandpa buy him those books? All they did was caused him torture.

Atem finished his breakfast first and got up to deposit his trash and cup into the sink and the trash can. As he was moving about, he asked Yugi who was still eating, "So, do you have any plans for this weekend?"

Yugi shrugged. "Um . . . So far, me and Tea are going on a date. We are thinking about going to a movie." He said and took another bite of his food. "We don't know which movie yet, but we're going to talk about it after school." Since it was Thursday, he didn't have to buy the tickets just yet.

Atem leaned against the counter again and crossed his arms against his chest in a good manner. "The movies, huh? Are you sure you two will be watching the movie?"

The younger teen felt his face redden. "Y-yes!"

"Grrrr," Iggi bumped his head against Atem's leg. He looked up with the big, round eyes and his bottom lip quivered a bit.

Both boys looked down at the pup and Yugi held his hands up in innocence. "I did not teach him that!" He laughed.

Atem chuckled. "Oh sure. He must have learned it from the bug on the wall." He bent down and picked the puppy up. He scratched his tummy as Iggi let his tongue hang out of his mouth. "I swear, the puppy-dog eyes only work for you two. Anyone else I've seen do it, they can never compare to you."

Yugi laughed. He finished everything and stood up. He mimicked his brother and put his breakfast belongings away. When he passed Atem, he scratched his dog's ear and kissed the top of his head. "You spoil him." He said.

"Uh huh, and you don't?" Atem let the puppy down and started to walk out of the kitchen to go brush his teeth and grab his bag. "I'll be back," he said and disappeared from sight.

Yugi gave Iggi more water in his bowl and scratched his head again. "I'll take you on a walk after school, boy. I was supposed to take you on one yesterday, but . . ." He didn't finish his sentence as he stood up and watched Iggi tilt his head at him. "Heh, never mind." He scratched his own head and then looked over to the clock on the wall for the time. Seven-forty.

"Well, that's my cue to go get ready." Quickly, Yugi exited the kitchen and went for the stairs.

About half way up the steps, Atem started down with his backpack in hand. He smiled as he passed his brother. Though, the smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

Yugi bit the inside of his cheek but continued up. '_I wonder if he'll do anything when he finds out the truth.' _He thought. Atem never mentioned their talk last night nor did he say anything else about the bruise. It was beginning to worry him. His darker half never acted like this; he was always persistent.

He shrugged and walked down the hall and to the bathroom.

About five minutes later, he came back out of the bathroom just as Atem called up to him, "C'mon, Yugi, we're going to be late if you keep up this pace."

"Yeah, yeah!" Yugi mumbled and walked down the stairs to meet his other who already had his bag slung over one shoulder and had Yugi's bag in his hand. Yugi stuck his tongue playfully at him and took his bag.

Iggi came dashing down the hallway and crashed into Yugi's leg, who stumbled a bit from impact.

"Iggi," the teen picked his puppy up and hugged him real tight. "I'll be back in a couple of hours." In response, said puppy licked his owners face. Yugi giggled and placed the puppy back on his feet. "Go wait by mom's door and when she gets up, give her a big morning kiss."

"Arf!" Iggi's face lit up. Given his orders, the puppy turned around and charged up the stairs to wait by his grandma's door.

Atem rolled his eyes. "I would say what did you feed him this morning for him to be acting like that, but you weren't the one to feed him." He watched as his partner slipped his shows on.

Yugi smirked and looked up. "So Atem, what did you feed my dog to make him act like that?" He got a playful slap on the head as the older brother walked passed him and into the game shop.

"So, what're your plans for the weekend?" Yugi asked, closing the door behind him and walked through the game shop with Atem. They walked out, locked the door and started to head towards school.

The morning air felt rather nice for a March morning. ((A/n a tip, I don't know when school gets out for them. Everywhere is different, so for background information, school will end the last day of June. In future chapters, I will talk about this again. :p )) The sun was up but it was hiding behind some clouds, making the morning nice and not to bright. Birds were chirping everywhere and singing songs like every other morning.

The two brothers walked together.

"Nothing yet," Atem replied. "Since you're going on a date, I might just hang out with Joey and Tristan." He shrugged his shoulders.

"You don't have some date of your own?" Yugi raised an eyebrow and giggled.

Atem looked over at him through the corner of his eye. "No, why do you ask?" He knew where he was going with this, but thought to play along. He had to ignore the bruise on Yugi's cheek for the millionth time that morning before he would do something worth unthinking of.

Yugi crossed his hands on the back of his head and smiled. "Well, I dunno, maybe it's because all of the girls are waiting for you to ask them out."

"Yeah yeah, I know. I'm just waiting for the right girl to show up." The ex-pharaoh said. ((A/n just so you know this story will never, under any circumstances be or have an ounce of yaoi in it. ^^ Atem is indeed waiting for a girl to show up.))

As they walk, Atem decided to change the subject to Yugi and the date. They started to discuss the details, as much as Yugi could get out without getting embarrassed and start stuttering. He would explain that they were going to watch a movie, as he explain earlier, and that he was also taking her out to dinner.

"If it wasn't for Jii-chan giving us an allowance, I would not be able to afford anything." He said. "Dates are so not cheap!"

The older one chuckled. "Back when I was growing up," he said, referring to Ancient Egypt, "Dates were simple."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"So, who all did you go on a date back then?"

Now it was Atem's turn to a light shade of pink in the cheeks. But he quickly hid it before Yugi could notice. "No one really. Being the Pharaoh's son, it was difficult to date people. But the ones I did date, they were of royalty. They were of my father's approval" Yugi smiled and looked over at his other. Atem didn't pay him any attention.

"What were the girls like? And what kind of dates did you go on?" He questioned. He loved finding out more about Atem's past life. Before, they knew nothing and had to go on journeys to discover his memories. And when he got them all back, Atem didn't have enough time to answer questions because he and Yugi had to duel (Ceremonial Battle) and decide if his soul could rest in peace after five thousand years or be stuck. Now with Atem here, Yugi questioned him a lot about his past.

"Uh . . . Well," he started out, trying to figure out how to explain the few girls he went on dates with. "There was a girl from a neighboring country. Her name was Aziza. I went on two dates with her when I was about twelve."

"Really? You dated at a young age."

He shrugged. "That's how it always is. Father wanted what was best for me and if I started dating at a young age, the better. I would understand woman and know what to do when I find a wife." He continued on. "Our first date, I took Aziza down to the Nile. We walked along it and talked about ourselves since it was our first time meeting. Um . . . The servants of the palace had made us a picnic."

"And the second date?" Yugi pressed on.

Atem bit the inside of his cheek. "Well, it was a couple of weeks later. We had dinner and watched the sunset."

Yugi couldn't help but chuckle at his brother's embarrassment. "Why are you getting all embarrassed for?"

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

Cutting their argument was Joey throwing an arm over both Mutous' shoulder and squeezed himself between them. "What're y'all talking about?" He appeared out of nowhere, surprising them.

Yugi quickly recovered and said, "Atem dating waaaaaay back then." He dragged the 'a' out, being ever so dramatic about it. He grinned real big.

Joey raised an eyebrow and looked over to the other Mutou. "Really? Who was she and what was she like?" He grinned his cocky grin as they walked down the street; getting a few odd glances by the way they were walking. But, they paid the glances no attention.

Still a bit pink in the face, and trying to hide it but to a miserable fail, Atem explained, "Her name was Aziza and she was very nice."

"Uh huh," The blond looked over to Yugi and playfully rolled his eyes before turning back. "What else?"

"Well, she was very shy but had a good sense of humor." He continued. Then he stopped and gave the other two a pained expression, "Why must I talk about this?"

"Because you brought it up," Yugi giggled. Then, he mimicked Atem, which almost seemed like Atem was talking, but his voice wasn't deep enough, "'Back when I was growing up,'"

Joey burst out laughing, along with Yugi. Atem just shrugged the blond off and grumbled.

Suddenly, Tristan, who was waiting for the three by at the end of the street, walked up and greeted them. "Hey guys, what's so funny?" Joey was about to respond when Tristan caught sight of Yugi's cheek and his eyes got big. "What the hell happened to you?"

Yugi had been so distracted, he forgot about the bruise and was a bit confused about what the brunette was talking about. The group stopped walking.

Joey stopped laughing and confused, spun his buddy around and almost had a heart attack when he saw the purplish-blue bruise on his face. His face dropped and he frowned. "What happened?" He pointed to his face.

Subconsciously, Yugi lifted his hand to his cheek and it wasn't until the pain from the touch reminded him. Quickly letting his hand fall, he tried for a fake smile as he lied to them, "I uh . . . ran into a pole yesterday."

"A pole?" Like Atem's reaction yesterday, the two boys weren't buying it.

Tristan crossed his arms against his chest. "Do you really expect us to believe a pole did that to you?"

Joey glanced over at Atem to find him looking the other way with his own frown plastered on his face. From his stiff posture and his facial reaction, he could tell that Yugi said the same thing to him. He turned back to Yugi.

"Look, guys, that's what really happened." Yugi tried to change their minds though he could feel like heart pounding in his chest. If felt like it was going a hundred miles per hour and if he didn't do something, he was afraid it was going to burst from him. On the plus side, which confused him so, his voice stayed very calm. "If you don't want to believe me, that's fine. But, seriously, that's what happened. I'm fine though, so don't worry."

He started to walk forward and walked around Tristan, not really wanting to stick around and be interrogated.

Once out of ear shot, Joey turned towards the ex-pharaoh, "Dude, what happened?"

"That's what I want to know." Atem said. He watched his partner walk away with his head down. "He won't tell me what happened but I know it's something bad." They started to walk towards the school but slower so they wouldn't catch up with Yugi. "Last night, after Yugi came home, I asked him where he was." And he told them what the conversation was about.

"He actually lied to you?" Tristan asked, shocked. "Dude, that's not like him."

Atem nodded. "I know. What ever happened, it really affected him bad."

Joey thought for a minute. "Did he have any bruises other than his cheek?"

His face darkened and he nodded. "After I left the room, I went down stairs to eat supper with Jii-chan. After supper and the dishes were done, I got some ice for Yugi. When I went upstairs and opened his door, he was already asleep. I put the ice on his cheek and was about to leave when I noticed something."

"What?"

Atem shook his head as if he couldn't believe he was actually saying this. "Iggi was softly growling at me." Which meant that that was weird and that Iggi never acted like that. "When I put the ice down and moved my hand away, he stopped. As a testament, I moved my hand again, and the growling started again."

"Okay," Joey said, not getting it. "That's what dogs do, so what?"

Tristan rolled his eyes and explained, "When you are bonded closely to your dog, it's like you can feel each others pain. Iggi didn't want Atem touching Yugi because it would cause him pain."

Joey's mouth made the 'o' shape as he understood.

Atem nodded. "But what was even stranger, was the Iggi stopped growling and softly whined when I started to walk away. I turned back and he touched Yugi's stomach with his nose."

Tristan suddenly understood. "Bumping into a pole my ass." He suddenly got mad. "He was bullied, that's why he didn't tell us the truth and he lied. He didn't want us getting into the matter."

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold the horses." Joey said, not understanding the concept of the dog. "What was Iggi trying to say?"

Atem continued his story so he could catch the lost blond up, "Iggi was trying to tell me that Yugi had bruises on his stomach and chest."

Joey's eyes narrowed. "You're right. But, if you already figured this all out, why didn't you-,"

"There's probably a reason why he didn't tell me." He cut him off. "I'll give him some space and wait to see if he'll tell me."

"What happens if he doesn't tell you?" Tristan asked kind of worried. He looked ahead of them to Yugi who had stopped and waited for Tea to arrive. When she did, she freaked out about the bruise and was demanding answers. No doubt he was telling her the same story he told them.

"I really don't know." Atem said. They finally caught up with the two love birds as Yugi finished trying to explain to Tea.

"Look, it's nothing bad." He tried. "It's just a little bruise and it'll go away."

Tea didn't look like she was buying it. She had her arms crossed over her chest with an annoyed but very concerned expression. "Do you really expect me to believe that?" When Yugi didn't answer her, she uncrossed her arms and gently grabbed Yugi's chin and tilted it to the side to get a better look at it. "You do realize that pole's can't really do this to you, right?" She softly asked, looking at the shape of the bruise.

Yugi pulled his chin free and nodded.

"Then why won't you tell me the truth?"

"It doesn't really matter." He said, looking away. He was always a sucker when Tea asked him of something. He forgot about the other three boys that were stopped next to the twp and said, "If he messes with me again, I'll do something about it. But just so you know, I wasn't bullied or anything. Those days are long gone."

"So someone _did _mess with you." Joey angrily said, causing the teen to flinch.

Yugi looked over at them. "Can we just drop this?" He didn't really see what the matter was about. It was his own fault this happened to him. If he hadn't stood up to Danny and managed to run away, he wouldn't have a bruise on his face. It's his own fault, why did everyone have to be so concern?

"Yugi, we're just trying to help." Tristan said. "We're your friends and we don't want people messing with you."

Atem stayed quiet throughout the conversation. He was trying to remember what the name of the one guy that liked to mess with his partner for no apparent reason. What was his name . . .? He wracked his brain for a while and when a name popped up, he accidentally said it a loud, causing Yugi to freeze up while he was in the middle of talking.

"Danny Hilmon." The group looked to Atem, curiously while Yugi looked away, feeling panicky. Atem took in that emotion and said, "Why did he pick on you?"

Joey almost growled. "Why can't that kid go pick on someone older than him?" (Since Yugi is almost as tall as Atem who is just a tad bit shorter than Danny. But not by much)

Yugi turned around without facing them. "C'mon, we need to get to school. The bell is about to ring." In fact, just as he said that, the bell to the school rung. (It's a loud bell). Thankful that they were way more than half way to school, they ran the rest of the way so they wouldn't be counted absent.

Throughout the day, the gang was trying to figure out why Yugi was not talking. Now that they knew who caused the bruise on Yugi's cheek (And stomach), they were looking out for the dark-haired bully. While they were doing that, Yugi was trying to figure out why he wasn't telling his friends what had happened. He didn't want them to know what the reason was, but he did. He was confusing himself so much; he didn't know what to think.

By lunch time, Tea had found out what had happened and she would not let her boyfriend out of her sight. And through the process, Ryou had heard about it also. So they sat outside near their favorite oak tree and ate their lunch.

As they were eating, Yugi finally spoke up, "It's not that I don't like telling you guys the truth," everyone looked up from their food and listened. "It's just, it's not necessary. I mean, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. That's all. And if it wasn't for Bakura, then who knows what would have happened."

Atem shook his head. He could feel his partner telling the truth now, but some of it was a lie. He kept his mouth shut because it wouldn't do any good saying anything. "Yugi, we just want you to be safe."

"Yeah, pal." Joey added. "We know you hate violence and know that you won't fight back, that's why we always help you out. If someone messes with you, they need to know that they can't get away with it."

Tristan and Tea nodded in agreement.

Yugi shook his head though. "I appreciate that, you know I do. But, I just want to face him my self. I got into this and I need to get myself out."

As they were talking, a freshman girl was walking over to them, kind of nervous. She twirled her fingers in the helm of her blue skirt. She looked very uncomfortable as she stopped in front of the group.

Ryou looked up and smiled. "Hi, can we help you with something?"

The group stopped talking and looked curiously to the newcomer.

The girl nodded. In a shaky voice, she looked at Yugi and said, "Um . . . a-a teacher wanted to s-see you. He needed to g-give you something." She looked almost on the verge of tears.

Yugi frowned and stood up. "Are you okay?" He asked, his concern showing, even though he didn't know the girl.

She nodded. "He w-wants to see you now."

"Who's the teacher?" Tea asked. She had an uncomfortable feeling about this.

The girl looked over to her. "He didn't s-say his name, but I h-h-have to escort Yugi to him."

Ryou shook his head. "Something doesn't feel right."

Yugi shrugged. "I'll be right back, guys." He said. He ignored Ryou's and his girlfriends comment and left with the trembling girl.

As they walked back to the school, the girl kept sniffling. She did have tears in her eyes, but wouldn't let them fall.

Yugi noticed from the side of his eyes and asked again, "Are you sure you're okay?"

The girl looked up and nodded. "Y-yes." And looked back down.

As they continued their way, the girl ventured off to the right instead of going straight. Yugi grew confused and just as they were turning a corner, the girl whispered, "I am so sorry."

Standing against the school's building was Danny towering over a different girl. This girl looked frightened to the core as she stared up at Danny with terrified brown eyes.

The girl that had led Yugi here cried out, "Leah!" And the girl looked over and cried a sigh of relief. They ran to each other and embraced each other tightly.

Yugi looked from the two girls to Danny and narrowed his eyes. "What, getting bored with your usual prey that you're frightening freshman girls to do your dirty work?"

The two girls looked over at Yugi then to Danny. They quickly stepped behind the senior and waited for what was going to happen. Danny just smiled and looked at Yugi.

"Kind of. I just needed to ask you a question but I couldn't really do that with you hanging around your friends." He lazily leaned against the wall and stuffed his hands into his pockets. He glared at the girls that were hiding behind Yugi and growled out, "Leave, or you'll expect a few bruises." They freshman's eyes doubled in size and they quickly ran away, back the way Yugi and that one girl had came.

Yugi watched them go and turned back to the bully. "What did you do to make them like that?" He was both angry and concerned about the girls.

The other shrugged. "A lot of threatening. Freshman girls are so easy to get them to do your bidding. Anyways, back to more important business. Did you deliver my message?"

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Of course not." A flicker of anger flashed through Danny's eyes, but Yugi didn't care. For some reason, he felt strong and felt no fear, whatsoever. He looked the kid in the eye and said, "I'm not one you can easy manipulate. Just because you don't like something, doesn't mean you can take it out on someone else. If you have a problem, figure it out yourself. Just leave me, Atem, and my friends out of it. While you're at it, everybody else in the school too." With that, he turned around and started to walk away, feeling confident that he said what he said, and a bit hungry.

Before he could walk any further, Danny grabbed his wrist and threw his against the ground. Anger was very clear in his eyes as he growled out, "Don't you dare talk to me like that, you piece of shit." He was about ready to kick the lights out of the unfortunate teen when a voice stopped him.

"Then let us," Joey growled and punched the bully square in the faced. "Whatever my pal said, I say it for him."

Danny stumbled back, gripping his now broken nose. He glared at the blond then to Tristan, Atem, and Ryou. Tea went over to Yugi and helped him to his feet. The said names all glared back.

"I will be back," Danny growled. "Don't think this is over," he shot the statement to Yugi before he shoved his way through Ryou and Atem.

Once he was gone, it was quiet for a minute before Tea suddenly hugged her boyfriend so tight, he that he was lost of air. "You can never go anywhere without causing trouble!" She whispered, though everyone could hear.

"Um . . . Tea?" Ryou watched with a small grin though he was a bit concern. "I don't think Yugi can breathe."

The chick suddenly loosened her grip but didn't let go. Yugi took a deep breath, filling his lungs with air and sent a small 'Thank You' to Ryou. He smiled though and hugged her back. He waited for a minute and when it didn't seem like Tea was letting go, he shrugged and looked over to his friends.

"How'd you know to come?"

Tristan shrugged his shoulders. "About a minute after you left, we kind of found it suspicious so we followed. By the time that girl appeared again, she was with a friend and was running away."

Ryou spoke next. "I managed to ask what had happened and they told us that the girl's friend was about to be beaten up if the girl didn't do as Danny said."

Yugi nodded and Tea finally let go but held on to his hand.

Joey shifted his weight and leaned against the wall. "Good thing we came in time."

Atem nodded his head. "What exactly did Danny tell you to tell me?"

Yugi looked taken aback. "W-what do you mean?" How did he find out?

"The girls told me a bit about it."

Yugi bit the inside of his cheek. He felt a squeeze on his hand and looked over to Tea. She was looking at him with pleading eyes. Finally, Yugi sighed. "Alright, I'll tell you. But, his reason was beyond me." Meaning Danny's reason was stupid. So he told them what exactly happened last night when he left the school.

Atem tilted his head a bit when his partner finished. Before he could speak, Joey looked proudly to his friend. "Aw, Yuge. You're not the same little person from before!" He almost had tears in his eyes. "You're sticking up to bullies now!"

Tristan faked wiped a tear away, "He's growing up!"

Yugi stuck his tongue out at them.

Tea rolled her eyes, "Can we get back to more important details? Like, what are we going to do?"

"What is the fastest way to a man's heart? Stab him through the chest and into his heart."

The bell rung right then and there. The teens looked around themselves, forgetting that they were still in school.

"Crap." They all muttered and had to run back to where they left their belongings and lunch. From there, they had to part and run to class.

Luckily, Yugi and Ryou had the same class together.

They managed to sit down in their seats just as the final bell rung. The teacher took a fast roll and started to lecture the class on Japan's history during World War ll, even though they already have heard it before.

Yugi and Ryou were sitting next to each other and Ryou leaned over and whispered, though keeping his eyes on the front, "Yugi, why didn't you tell Atem what had happened?"

Same as his silver-haired friend, Yugi kept his eyes on the front and whispered back, "Same reason why you wouldn't tell Bakura." From the corner of his eye, Ryou nodded. "I mean, what could I have done? I wanted to tell him, but it would have been weird. I still don't know why I didn't tell him in the first place."

"Maybe you were scared and felt over confident?"

Yugi snorted, having a few people closest to them looked over at them. When the people looked away, he continued, "That was the least of what I was feeling."

"Hm . . . Maybe you just didn't want anyone to get involved." Ryou opened his notebook to look like he was taking notes. Which, he kind of was. Yugi did the same. "I know I would do the same."

Yugi raised an eyebrow and scribbled something in his book. "You wouldn't tell anyone what happened?" The silver-hair nodded. "Why?"

"I would feel weak. You know, maybe that's what you were thinking. You didn't tell anyone because you didn't want them to get mad and try beating that bully up. Maybe you wanted to solve it yourself."

What he said did make sense, even if that thought never crossed Yugi's mind. But, didn't it? He mentally shook his head. "Maybe you're right. When I started to walk away, something inside me felt happy and accomplished. Maybe, mentally, I was thinking that."

"Mr. Bakura," the teacher called the silver hair. Both boys looked up to see the teacher scowling at them.

"Y-yes ma'am?"

"What was the last thing I just said?"

Not a heart beat later he answered, though he had to stand up. _"'Japan had reestablished relations with the Republic of China_ _after World War II, and cordial relations were maintained with the nationalist government when it was relocated to Taiwan, a policy that won Japan the enmity of the People's Republic of China, which was established in 1949'."_ He sat back down, leaving the teacher stunned for a minute.

Then she nodded and continued her lecture.

Ryou and Yugi took no time in going back to their conversation. Yugi whispered, "I think you may be right, though. Maybe it was because I wanted to do this myself."

Ryou nodded. "It makes sense." And as Yugi thought more about it, it did make more sense and would explain why he didn't want to tell anyone. "And what you said earlier, why the bully beat you up, maybe it was just so that you could say I accomplished something. Or something like that."

They paused on talking as they started to pay attention when the teacher looked over at them.

After half an hour of working, Yugi leaned over, curious. "Did Bakura say anything to you last night?"

Ryou shook his head. "I was doing my homework when he came home. He looked at me then to the clock then headed for his room. He looked like he had a lot on his mind." Yugi nodded. "But, I know this is a really random question, but did he say anything to you?"

"Like what?"

"Well, when I got up this morning for school, I couldn't find him. He wasn't in his room or in the kitchen or anywhere in the house." When Yugi looked at him, he saw his friend looking concern. "I tried to call him, but nothing would work."

"Maybe he just went out for an early stroll." Though, both of them couldn't see the Thief King getting up before nine o'clock any day unless you woke him up and kept him awake.

Ryou bit the inside of his cheek. "Maybe."

"Don't worry, Ryou, he'll be at home when you get there." As they continued their work, almost done, Yugi suddenly remembered something. "So, how is the cat?"

Ryou looked at him with almost a death glare. "Annoying! That cat meows constantly and is getting fur everywhere! I rather have a puppy."

Yugi giggled. "What kind of cat is it?"

"A Persian."

"Bakura kept a . . . Persian? Well, that's not weird at all."

Ryou nodded and sighed. "You would think someone like him would get a Rottweiler or something cool and strong or maybe like a tabby cat, not a fluffy little kitty cat that is all white. Ugh, he gets fur all over the place! I don't understand why he loves cats! I swear, he's soon going to bring another cat home and ask to keep that one." He rubbed his temples like he had a head-ache. "I don't know what I'm going to do about him and that cat."

Yugi frowned. "Okay, who are you and what have you done with Ryou?"

The silver-hair looked up and shyly smiled. "Uh, sorry. But, that cat really bothers me he's making me different."

Yugi giggled. Wow, one cat could do this to Ryou, make him act completely different. I wonder what would happen if Bakura _did _bring more cats home.

Both teens went back to work.

The rest of the day went on like normal. Atem didn't say much until they got home, just wondering why Yugi didn't tell him what was going on. Yugi told him what he and Ryou were talking about in history and told him everything. When Grandpa asked what had happened, Yugi told him, not feeling like lying. Grandpa understood, but their mom didn't. Boy did she almost explode. All three males had to calm her down and it was a good thing Yugi didn't not show her his stomach.

That night Yugi was on the floor in his room, trying to finish his math project up. Iggi was rolling on the floor next to him, causing a distraction. Yugi giggled and scratched his puppy's stomach and concentrated on his work. Dinner was already done and over with, and dishes too and even taking Iggi on a thirty minute walk with Atem. He was already in his pj's so all he had to worry about was his homework.

The door opened and Atem walked in and automatically walked across the room and laid on his hikari's bed with his arms crossed behind his head. He started up at the ceiling. "Having fun?"

Yugi groaned and shook his head. "No. I got half of it done, but I just don't feel like doing the rest of it!" He looked over to his yami who chuckled.

"Just keep at it and before you know it, you'll be done with it."

Yugi just shook his head and laid back against the carpet. He stared up at his ceiling.

Seeing his owner do this, Iggi got up, shook, and walked over to him and laid across him, making sure to avoid the bruises.

Atem chuckled upon the scene. He turned his head back up to look at the ceiling.

After a while of just enjoying each others presence, Yugi said in a soft voice, "Atem. I'm sorry."

"For what?" He didn't look over to his Light.

"For not telling you." Yugi said. He still felt bad about not telling Atem the truth. "I should have told you the truth when I got home yesterday instead of lied."

The pharaoh shrugged his shoulders. "You don't have to be sorry, Yugi. It's me who should be apologizing." Before Yugi could question him, he continued, "I was thinking about it during school after our encounter with Danny. I was thinking that you were right for not telling me. You had the situation almost under control. In a way, it made me think that you wanted to do what was right and try for yourself to handle that situation."

"Kind of." Yugi mumbled. "In truth, I really don't know why I lied. I think I was scared."

Iggi let a low whimper out. Yugi started to gently pet his head.

"You had a right to be. You are a non-violent person, Yugi. And I know for a fact that you were just trying to get him to stop what he was doing."

After a while, the two laid there in silence for a while longer.

It was a little after ten and Yugi's eyes started to droop closed until they remained closed and his breathing slowed down to an even pace. Atem took noticed and rolled his eyes. He got up off Yugi's bed and walked over to his hikari. Iggi's head perked up and stood up and yawned, ready for bed time. As Iggi's walked over to the bed and jumped up, Atem scooped Yugi up into his arms and went back to the bed and laid him down gently. He pulled the covers over him and petted Iggi before walked towards the door to leave for his own room.

As he reached the door and was about to flip the lights off, Yugi muttered in a sleepy voice, "I love you, Atem."

The pharaoh looked back and smiled. "I love you too, Yugi. Good night." He flipped the lights off and closed the door to the sleeping boy's room.

XxxxX

Lisa: Well, my hikari wanted to say sorry. She's busy 'studying' for the finals for school. So, I'll be talking!

Thanks for reading and sorry it was just a fill-er chapter. For sure, things will start picking up next chapter, and it won't be as long (This chapter was over 8 thousand words!). Sorry, but that's just how it is. This chapter, as I just noticed, was very long. Huh.

And, I cited from this site:

_.org/wiki/History_of_Japan_

Lisa: Okay. Well, fanfiction is being a huge turd and apparently doesn't like me. I can't reply to my reviews so I'm going to have to on this. x.x Well, here we go!

**Doragon-chan: **Hehehe, we'll just have to find out on that! :)

**DarkHeartInTheSky: **XD Yes, the pole is the perfect lie! He's already clumsy to begin with. Only if the gang didn't think too hard, he could have used the excuse of always bumping into things. –sighs- But, thanks. I think I did have good luck with this chapter. And, I think my hard drive was just trying to tell me something. Like, you made Yugi too weak, now's your time to fix it! So, eh, I'm okay with it. But, thanks though!

**Couldn'tThinkOfaName: **No problem. But, word of advice, TOUCH SCREENS ARE EVIL! ^^ lol. I tell that to any and everybody! And yes. I thought it was very important for Yugi to stick up and not cower before bullies anymore. He's grown up and learned a lot. ^^ He's not some helpless little kid anymore. And honestly, Kairi would neeeever forget about y'all. Y'all, literally, are her inspiration. Without y'all, this story wouldn't be any good, and wouldn't be here. She's so happy to have readers like y'all. ^^ And, for making the plot longer, I really like your idea. Using the shadow realm. But I don't know yet. I don't know if I want Atem and Bakura to still be able to use the dark powers. With the Millennium items gone, what is helping them? That, and the gods gave them normal bodies so they can live a normal life. I don't know, but the idea is a fantastic one. :p And thank you so much! XD

**R.: **It was difficult for the lying part, to be honest. I didn't know how to write it. And I wanted to make it like, "OMP! I can't believe that!" much like your reaction! XD And yeah, I felt bad for Yugi lying to him, But at least they made up, yeah? And Iggi, -sighs- I want him! I know I'm just making him up, and whatnot, but I want him so much! I love how I write him! 3 And, sorry that this one didn't have a lot of action in it either. But soon, there should be some! And Kairi wanted to thank you to the bottom of her heart. :p And slowly, we're getting out of writers block.

**Yugisrose: **^^ And I am so glad I rewrote it. It's much better. ^^ Thanks for reviewing! XD

**YamiHeart: **Awww, be nice to Sarah! She's just trying to help.

Lisa: And be annoying! But I do kind of agree with you, YamiHeart, why aren't poles illegal? I mean, seriously! They hurt people!

Only if you walk into them. :p

Lisa: Hush, hikari. Go back to your final review. You weren't even supposed to answer these reviews! I am! .

^^ I needed a break. And oh well. You still can answer them. But, thanks! And that's just the way Yugi's dad works. I hate him with a passion even though he's my own. Lol


	5. Chokichi Mutou

Oh, my holy pickles... I am so sorry it's been this looong! I would explain my reason, but there's so much to explain, you'd get bored. Just say, there was a lot of problems but i finally got it up! XD

I just noticed, I start the morning off at like all of the chapters. Huh…. I just realized that, but I find it helpful and easier…. :/

Sorry, but this chapter is killing me because I literally do not know what to write for it. Whatever comes to mind I write down. Uuugh, this is so hard! :0 I hate writers block! So, if the writing gets random, you know the reason why…..

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Chapter four:

Friday. The best time of the week because it leads on to Saturday. Friday is the day where you can stay out late and enjoy yourself instead of having to go to bed early because school was the next day. The one day where you don't have to do homework right away since you have all weekend to do it. The one day where you can go out and restock your candy supplies or go to bed early to get rest up for the next day. With every awesome thought about what your weekend is going to be about, you have to first go to school so you can get that over with.

Yugi and Atem just got done getting ready for school when their mom came into view, wearing her blue ducky bathrobe and slippers. She had a late night so she still had some purple underneath her eyes and she stifled a yawn.

Yugi smiled and greeted his mom with a tight hug. "Hey, mom. Shouldn't you still be asleep?"

Miyuki hugged her son back and smiled, despite needing her coffee right away. "And shouldn't you be in school right now? But I woke up because I'm a little hungry. I skipped out on dinner last night."

Atem came up to her holding a mug of the coffee Grandpa had brewed up earlier. He handed it to her and gave her cheek a kiss. "Good morning."

She kisses the top of his head (Yes, she could actually reach it) and gladly took the cup of coffee. She walked over to the table and sat down.

"Do you want me to fix you anything to eat?" Yugi asked. He and Atem were already done getting ready and still had ten minutes before they had to leave for school. He sat down on one of the chairs across from his mom while Atem leaned against the wall.

Miyuki shook her head and took a sip of her caffeine. "No, I'm good. I'll find something to eat later."

Yugi smiled and nodded. "How was work yesterday?" He asked.

"The usual, long and long. They wouldn't let me leave until I finished all of the paper work. And seeing as how they always have a lot of papers that took me until midnight last night." She lets out a sigh. "I didn't get home until twelve-thirty and didn't fall asleep until almost one."

"Talk about a late night." Atem agreed. "So what time do you go back to work today?"

Miyuki took another sip before answering, "I don't work until Monday, thank the gods. They gave me the weekend off due to my efficient work. Not that I'm complaining." She took another sip.

"Well, that's good." Yugi said. "Do you have anything planned?"

She shook her head. "Besides catching up on sleep, I'm probably just going to get caught up on laundry and cleaning up a bit. But, what about you boys. Anything planned?"

Atem shook his head as Yugi nodded and said, "Well, tomorrow, me and Tea are going on a date. Sunday, I was going to meet up with Lyla and bring Iggi along. I haven't seen her for a while."

Miyuki smiled. "Didn't you just see her last weekend?" She teased.

"No, that was Atem." Yugi said. Before he asked Tea out, his mom had found out that Yugi always took Iggi out to the park to meet up with a girl. Which were Lyla and her dog Kairi. Miyuki thought he liked her and teased him about it, though he kept trying to say she was only a friend.

If looks could kill, Yugi would be dead. The two looked at Atem to see him playfully glaring at Yugi. Miyuki raised a questioning eyebrow and smirked as she took a sip of her coffee. "So, Atem, what did the two of you do?" She asked.

If you looked close enough, you could see a faint blush upon his cheeks. Atem looked away. "Nothing." He said gruffly. "We just talked and hanged out. Nothing out of the ordinary."

Yugi giggled and Miyuki kept her smile as she continued with her drink. They said nothing, but they were thinking it.

Atem took notice. "Seriously! That's all we did! We let the dogs run loose and we just started talking!"

"Uh huh." Miyuki rolled her eyes at the same time as Yugi said, "Suuuure."

Iggi came over and bumped against Yugi's leg, still licking his lips from his breakfast.

Yugi looked down and scratched his dog behind the ear. Then he looked up to the clock. "Well, we need to be going now." He stood up from his chair and petted Iggi on the head once more before leaning over to his mom and kissed her cheek. "See you after school, mom."

Atem lost his gruffly-ness and kissed his mom on top of her head. "Don't work to hard doing the laundry." He half joked.

Miyuki nodded and said, "No promises."

He chuckled and the two said their goodbyes before walking to the front door to get their bags.

Miyuki watched them go before looking down at the floor. Iggi was still sitting there, watching Yugi leave for school. Feeling eyes upon him, he looked up and met his grandmother's eyes. ((A/n since Yugi is like his father/owner, Yugi's mother is the grandma! XD)) They looked at each other for a few minutes in silence before the pup tilted his head to the side and let his tongue hang out.

Miyuki chuckled. "You are just too cute. But, looks like I'll be putting you to work today." She thought about tying a laundry basket with rope to his collar and putting the basket on wheels so he could transfer clothes from one place to the other. Just imagining the thought, she laughed and stood up. She put her now empty mug in the sink and said, "Well, I need more sleep." She started to walk out of the kitchen and headed up for bed. Iggi trailing right behind her.

XxxxX

"Bye, Jii-chan!" Yugi called as he and Atem walked away from the shop. His grandpa was sweeping the front porch and waved to them in farewell.

"Hm . . . I wonder what we're doing today . . ." Yugi wondered aloud. He looked over to Atem who just shrugged.

"If you're talking about school, then i have no idea." Was all he said. He looked away and off to watch their surroundings. Every time he looked at his Light, he felt the need to beat Danny Hilmon up from the bruise he left. Yugi's bruise had gone down some and some of the purple had gone away. But it was still there and looking bad. Their mom told Yugi to put ice on it whenever he could, in which Yugi protested to, but it did help a lot. The bruise was still clearly there, but not as bad. Though, Atem was still pissed.

Noticing his darker half's quietness, Yugi bumped his shoulder with him. "You alright?"

Atem blinked his eyes once, then twice and looked over. "Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?" He looked away again.

((Kayla was here))

"Uh huh." Yugi said, not buying it. "Really, what's wrong? You don't normally act like this. You're too quiet. What's bugging you?"

To be truthful, nothing was bugging him. A little mad about the bruise but, really he was sort of tired. "Nothing really. Kind of tired to be honest."

Yugi nodded.

For the rest of the way to school, they walked in a silent moment. They enjoyed each others presence, and they, for once, didn't have anything to say to each other. They soon met up with their three other friends and together they went to school.

XxxxX

"Open your books to page three hundred and seventy-four." The P.E. coach instructed to his students. Since the weather wanted to prove the weatherman wrong, it decided to let down a random downpour fall in the middle of the school day, making it impossible to do any activities outside. So, all of the students that had P.E. were inside now, doing workbook pages.

Yugi got busy doing his work, thankful that they got to do book work instead of run the track. He wasn't very fond of P.E. and would rather take book work over it any day. Ryou was the same way and was busy doing his own work.

Joey and Tristan were engaging in an arm wrestle match instead of doing their work. P.E. was the only time where they could goof off and the teachers wouldn't scowl at them and get them in trouble. So, they always had fun.

Tea just started to open her book and glance outside, rather being out there than in here. She rolled her eyes when she caught sight of the two knuckle heads. "Will you two ever knock it off?" She scowled them.

Atem chuckled. "They wouldn't be them if they did."

Yugi looked up. "Hey, what's that American game where they use that brown looking ball?" He bit the end of his pencil, wracking his brain of the answer.

Joey paused the match and said, "American football. And by the way, that's a fun game to play. I wonder why we don't play it here . . . You get to tackle people for the hell of it and get away with it."

Tristan nodded. "Yup. it's all part of the game."

Yugi nodded his head and quickly scribbled it down. "Thank you." He ignored his friends other comments and continued to work. '_In America, the school's usually have common sports. There are many, but pick the one you think is most likely to be found in all of the schools. Remember, some schools do have these sports, but not all of them. A.) Volleyball B.) Golf C.)Tennis D.) Cricket' _He read them and quickly circled A.

"Why do we have to do this?" Joey groaned. Apparently he lost against Tristan in their match and the loser had to do both work while the other 'supervised'. He flipped open his text book to the correct page and laid his chin on it, his face groaning with him.

"Because," Tea said as she multi-tasked and read while talking to him, "we have to do something than just sit here. That's not why we come to school."

"Yeah, but it's so bo-ring."

Tristan smirked and mockingly patted Joey on the shoulder. "Sucks to be you, man. You shouldn't have challenged me to that bet, seeing how your chances weren't very high."

Joey glared at him and shrugged the hand off. "Yeah yeah." He looked at the book in front of him and banged his forehead against it.

Yugi smiled and looked up from his work. "Oh, c'mon, Joey, book work is not that bad." Three pairs of eyes looked up at him questioningly. He felt his cheeks go red from embarrassment. "What? it's true."

Tea rolled her eyes and took her boyfriends free hand in hers. "Sorry, Yugi, but I have to disagree with you. Only -,"

"Nerds say book work is fun." Both Tristan and Joey said in unison and cutting their female friend off.

"Actually," Atem announced rather thoughtfully. They all turned to him, "I actually have to agree with Yugi for this one; book work isn't that bad. It's rather fascinating."

Tristan raised an eyebrow, "Well, you have an excuse for finding it that way."

"I do?"

"Yup. It's called once being a pharaoh from a different time and just getting his own body a few months ago. Yugi's been around this for a long time, this is kind of new to you."

Yugi playfully stuck his tongue out at his friend. And Tristan did it back.

"Hey, Yugi," Ryou suddenly said, bringing his friends attention to him. The silver hair wasn't looking up from his book as he continued to read. "What did you get for number fourteen? I have been looking for a while but I just can't find it."

Yugi looked down at his own paper and searched for the number along the margin. Once seeing the number, he looked at his answer. "Uh . . . B. I found it on page three hundred and eighty-five." He looked back up to see his friend turning to the page.

"Hm . . ." Ryou said aloud as he read. His face brightened as he found what he was looking for. He looked up and smiled. "Ah, thank you."

"No problem, Ryou."

"Joey! That's cheating!" Tea's voice brought both boys looking to the others. Joey had number his and Tristan's pages and then started to scribble the answer for number fourteen in.

The blond looked up and shrugged as he argued back, "Hey, that's not cheating. Yugi said the answer out loud; it's free game. Now looking on his page for the answers would be cheating."

Atem smiled. "It's free game," he agreed, "but you also have to explain why it's that answer." He received a low groan and then a thunk as Joey hit his head against the table.

Tea shook her head in disapproval but shrugged. She looked over to their silver-hair friend who was smiling. "So, Ryou, you got any plans for the weekend?"

Said name looked up but as the question, his shoulders slumped and he had a concern look place his cheery one. "Change if plans now. I was going to be spending my time at the book store to catch up on reading," he received a 'cough' from Joey of nerd but he ignored him. "But that's been changed."

Tristan frowned. "How so?"

"Well . . . It's Bakura."

Yugi frowned and asked, "He didn't come home at all yet?"

"No . . . and I haven't heard from him since. I know he's a big boy and everything, but he usually tells me if he's going somewhere. Even when he goes to the store across the street of our apartment or when he goes out on the small balcony of our apartment. It's not like him."

Joey held up his hands like a mime and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Whoa whoa, hold the horses here. Are you saying you lost Bakura?"

"What? No, I didn't lose him." Ryou looked clearly taken aback.

"He misplaced him, Joey." Tristan explained. "Not lose him, misplaced."

Ryou rolled his eyes then looked a bit uncomfortable. He bit his lip and said, "I didn't misplace him, nor did I lose him. He sort of . . . misplaced himself." he put his pencil down and looked down at his paper. "I don't know if I should be concerned about him or if I should go look for him."

Atem thought for a minute. "We can . . . help you look for him after school." Everyone looked at him with shocked expression. For one who hates Bakura for everything that he has done in the past and everything and is willing to help him, wow. Now Atem was the one to look uncomfortable. "What?"

"Dude," Tristan tilted his head a bit to the side. "No offense to you, Ryou, but Atem, why would you offer to go look for him? We all know you don't like him, even if he's changed."

Joey nodded his head. "Yeah. And like Ryou said, he's a big boy. He will come home when he wants to."

Yugi shook his head, understanding his brother the best. He looked over to Ryou who had cast his gaze back to the book. A hint of sadness washed over him and Yugi bit his lip. "I will help look for him, Ryou." Joey raised an eyebrow so he explained. "I think it's safe for me to say," he looked over to his other half, "that Atem wants to help look because not of their past. Remember when I went missing like a year ago?"

"You were turned into a puppy." Tea said and squeezed his hand, "Though, you weren't really lost, you were with us the whole time."

Yugi nodded and returned the squeeze. "Well, when I was 'missing', you all looked for me, including Ryou. In a way, Atem wants to repay that deed."

Atem shrugged. "That and it only feels right to look for him. I do hate him, but what happens if he actually got kidnapped or got hurt and is lying somewhere bleeding to death." Eyes widen, Ryou looked up with a horror expression. Yugi gently elbowed his dark in the sides. "Er . . . Not that that would be possible. I'm just saying."

Joey looked to Tristan who looked at him. It looked like they were having a conversation through a mind link that wasn't possible. But, it was probably because they knew each other that it looked like that. Joey nodded and they both looked to their friend.

"Sorry," They both muttered. The Tristan added, "We'll help you look, if that's alright with you."

Ryou lost his feared expression and looked at them with a kind smile. "I appreciate it."

Suddenly, Yugi thought of something. "Oh, I just remember. I was going to take Iggi on a walk when I got home from school. But, I'll help you look. I'll just go home first to pick him up and meet you somewhere."

Ryou nodded. "Alright. And it's been a while since I've seen Iggi. I'll just go with you and we'll all start out together. Is that alright?" Yugi smiled and nodded.

Joey grinned which got a groan from Tea. "Oh yeah. If we're going to Yugi's house, we're coming too. Your mom cooks the awesome-est foods ever!" He said, meaning she baked really good sweets.

Tea rolled her eyes. "'Awesome-est' isn't a word, dork."

For the next hour and a half, the six got busy doing work. Well, minus Tristan who was making fun of Joey who was trying to work.

After health, they split up for their next class. Only Yugi and Joey stayed together for Math. After that they had lunch, which they all got back together, then they had their last class of the day in which they were separated again.

XxxxX

"My Friday night is being spent looking for someone." Joey groaned in his normal way. They gang were walking to the Mutou's house to drop their stuff up and pick Iggi up. The blond trudge along side Ryou with Tristan and Atem walked on either side of them. The two love birds were walking in front of them.

"Hey, you wanted to come." Tea reminded him as hers and Yugi's hands were entertained. She looked over her shoulder to the sulking blond who wanted to be at the arcade to play for a few hours before going home.

"I know I know. Don't have to keep reminding me,"

Ryou looked to the blond with a sincere smile. "Joey, if you don't want to help, I don't mind."

"Nah, I said I was going to help, and I will. Bakura ain't my friend... But you are. And I always help a friend in time of need."

Tristan and Atem rolled their eyes, even though they knew that was true.

"So, Ryou," Yugi looked over his shoulder and addressed the teen. "Where does Bakura usually go when you go to school?"

The silver hair thought for a moment. "Well, he usually stays home. He doesn't really like to go anywhere unless I leave him a list of places to go to. But, he sometimes go to the bar down the street."

"The bar?" Tristan frowned. "I thought you had to be nineteen and older to be even allowed in there without a parent next to you." ((A/n just making it up))

Joey shook his head. "Nah, you're supposed to be, but the people who own the bar don't really check. They let whoever in. But if you're trying to drink alcohol there, they'll then look at your ID. If you are underage, they'll kick you out."

Yugi raised an eyebrow, as did Tea. They looked back over to them and he asked, "How do you –, oh, uh, never mind." He totally forgot that Joey's father was an alcoholic. The two didn't get along much because of that and his father was abusive. Joey had told him that when he was a little younger, his father had to take him everywhere he went because he was too young to stay home alone. So if his father went to the bar, so did little Joey.

Joey nodded, though he looked away with discomfort.

Atem got back on topic. "Why does he go to the bar?"

"Well, he has some 'friends' there. I don't know anything about them. Bakura doesn't talk about them. The only way I found out was I had gone with him and met them." Ryou explained. "They were nice, though they looked like drug dealers. I think Bakura only hung out with them because they bought him drinks since they were all over age."

"But isn't he still to young?" Tea asked.

Atem was the one who answered with a shake of his head. "In his mind he doesn't think he is. Even though it's been thousands of years, Egyptians drank at a young age. That was just normal for us. In modern day Egypt, the drinking age is seventeen. Since Bakura is used to drinking, he doesn't care what his age is. It's just something he is used too and something he's not going to change."

Ryou nodded. "Yup, that pretty sums it up."

Just then, Tristan looked at Atem with a sly look. "So, did you ever get drunk back then?" He asked. Joey looked up with an interested look, looking like his normal self.

"Yeah, did you?"

Atem frowned. If you looked closely, you could see a light, light pale shade of pink on his cheeks. Yugi mentally giggled, feeling the emotion of embarrassment coming form his partner. "Uh . . . . Yes?"

Both boys leaned in close to him, even though they were walking. Joey had to change places with Ryou so that he was right next to the old Pharaoh. "Really? What happened? Do anything crazy?"

They group were only a few buildings away from the Game shop when Atem looked away, rubbing the back of his head. He bit his lip, not really wanting to reveal any of his embarrassing moments. He looked for an escape route of getting out of answering that question when it came to him.

"I wonder who that car belongs to." He said, pointing to a light blue car that was parked right next to the game shop.

Everyone looked and Tea asked, "I've never seen that car before. Do you know who it may belong to?" She asked and nudged Yugi with his shoulder.

"No, I've never seen that car before."

"Who ever it belongs to, has good taste." Tristan commented. Now that they were closer, they could make out the type of car. The car was a rental. It was a Honda Malibu that was a royal blue color. Nice and shiny.

They reached the shop in which they walked passed the car and to the front door.

"Huh, doesn't the shop stay open till nine on Fridays?" Ryou observed, noticing a 'Closed' sign hanging on the door.

Both Yugi and Atem nodded and they walked into the shop.

Inside was empty; no Grandpa or mom to be found.

Once they were all inside, Yugi let Tea's hand go and looked to his friends, "You guys just stay here, I'll go get Iggi." His friends nodded and watched as he and Atem walked to the part that was the house.

"I'm really worried," Yugi mumbled to Atem as they left their friends and entered the house. They slipped their shoes off and put their bags down next to them.

"Why?" He asked, though for some reason, he felt the same way. Something just didn't feel right, like something was going to change soon.

Yugi bit hid lip for what seemed like the tenth time today. "I don't know, just a feeling." He walked towards the living room.

"I know what you mean."

When they turned the corner, they heard voices. They could make out their grandpa's voice, though it sounded kind of on edge and their mom's voice which was quieter than normal. Then, there was a third voice. This voice was a deep males voice. He sounded sincere but something didn't sound friendly about it.

They came into view and walked a bit into the room before they stopped. Grandpa was standing next to the TV with Miyuki standing next to him. While Grandpa looked mad, she looked a bit mad but mostly scared. Like scared as she was about to be hit. Iggi was lying underneath the coffee table, looking at the new man with a look of disapproval.

"Hey mom, Jii-chan." Yugi greeted his family though he looked at the third person in the room with curiosity.

Atem also greeted them before asked, "Who is he?" he didn't mean to be rude, but the feeling he was feeling made him a bit jittery.

Miyuki widened her eyes but then quickly smiled and her eyes went back to normal. "Hey honey. I thought you two were going to the arcade after school." She sounded like she was about to cry.

Yugi looked away from the man to his mom and frowned, "We weren't going to today. I was going to take Iggi on a walk when I got home from school." Then he looked back to the man who looked at him with a look of interest.

The man looked to be in in his mid-forties with jet black hair that was streaked with a few strains of gray. His hair was a bit familiar; it was pointy and in a way, was like Grandpa's. Though, his wasn't as pointy and wasn't as much. Looking more normal than anything. He had icy blue eyes that were a bit sharp, kind of like Atem's, though a tad bit rounded. The man was wearing a black suit with a black tie. He looked like a business man. He smiled.

"So you must be Yugi." He said in that deep-ish voice of his.

Yugi nodded, wondering how he knew of him. He looked over to Grandpa who was almost glaring at the man.

When he felt eyes on him, he looked over to his grandson. They held each others gaze for a moment before Grandpa explained, "Yugi, Atem, this man here," He said in a not-at-all cheery voice, "is Chokichi. Chokichi Mutou. He is my son and . . . he is your father."

XxxxX

Dun Dun Duuuun! Till next chapter.

Lisa: WHAT? You make them wait for like millions of weeks just so you can end them on a big cliff hanger? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?

First off, Lisa, it hasn't been millions of weeks. More like two. Which I can't believe it's been that long. . And second, DUH! What kind of author would I be if I didn't? Anywho, hoped you liked it ^^

Please review! 3


	6. Over A Decades Wait

**HAPPY FATHERS DAY! I hope you treat your father like awesomeness! And... if you're a father, well, have fun today! XD **

**Disclaimer: **I so do not own Yu-Gi-Oh nor any of it's characters! Though, I wish I did. That would have been totally amazing! 3

**Chapter Five:**

If Atem had not been right behind Yugi, the teen would have fell. Atem had placed his hand on his Light's shoulder to stable him and to should that he was there to support him. Never in his life of being with Yugi, had he ever heard anything about the father. He never even thought to ask.

"My . . . My father?" Yugi asked, his face showing confusion. He frowned at the man, trying to tie everything together. In a way, the man did look like Grandpa, minus his tallness and his buff. But, how could he be related? Or, well, in Yugi's mind, that's what he was wanting to know. He sometimes thought about his father, wondering what he was like and everything, but, just . . .

The man nodded. "Yes. I am your biological father, minus some of my looks." He said as if reading his son's mind. He gave a smile to show that he was friendly.

Yugi shook his head. He felt weird. Like, all of his emotions were letting loose. His happiness that he indeed had a father was displaying, but at the same time the confusion of why he was here, now, after seventeen years. And under those, anger. For the same reason for his confusion, there was also the anger. Why on earth, after a decade and seven, almost eighteen years, did his father decide to finally show up?

Atem stayed quiet. He didn't have a say in any of this since he had no relationship to the man standing before them. At this point, he wish he had his and Yugi's connection so he could ask him how he was holding up. From all of the emotions going on a spree, he could tell not very well.

"But, if you're my father," Yugi slowly said, trying to slow down all of his thoughts and emotions before they killed him. "If you're my father, why are you here right now?"

Chokichi frowned and tilted his head a bit. "I'm sorry, I do not understand. What do you mean?"

Grandpa grunted and before he let his grandson say anything, he spoke, "Well, I think that's enough." Yugi looked over to him and noticed his grandpa looking at him with sorrow-filled eyes, but that quickly changed when he looked back to his son. "You never did tell us the reason why you are here, Chokichi."

His son looked away from his own son to his father. He forced on a smile and said in a tight voice, "Well, what do you think? I came to see my son and wife."

As he was talking, Atem leaned towards Yugi and whispered, "How are you holding up, aibou?"

At first, he didn't say anything, just stared at his real father. The one he never even seen before. The one he was always wishing he had. Then he softly spoke, "I don't know. I'm confused, I think."

Atem nodded. "How about we go help Ryou look for Bakura. That will help you sort things out."

Yugi nodded, forgetting about their friends in the game shop, waiting on them. Even with something to do, he still didn't move. If he left, would he see his father again? Why was Grandpa looking at his son with a look that said, _I want you out of this house_? Was there some kind of secret hidden here that he didn't know about?

Miyuki must have noticed her biological son frozen in shock while her other son looking at her for help. She gave him a small nod of her head and said when there was a pause, "Yugi, Atem, how 'bout you two go out and walk Iggi." At the sound of his name, the beagle squeezed himself out from underneath the coffee table to ran over to his owner. He whined and gently head butted him. "That ways we will be able to talk."

Atem nodded. "Just call when you need something," and he dragged his Light out from the living room.

Before they left the room, Yugi finally found the chance to speak. He pointed his question at Chokichi, "Will you be here later?"

His father shook his head. "Probably not." In which Yugi felt his heart break. "Though, I'll be here all week, if that'll help." Yugi felt his eyes brighten a bit and he nodded his head. His father smiled a warm smile, though on the insides, he felt like wrenching. "Have fun on your walk."

Atem finally managed to tug Yugi out of the room where they came back to the door. They slipped their shoes on in silence and Yugi hooked his dog up to his leash.

"Well . . . that was unexpected." Atem commented, trying to loosen the mood up.

Yugi stood back up. He stood with a unease stance, like he was weighting stuff. "No kidding." His voice was off and didn't sound anything like him, more like a shocked animal finding it's home had been destroyed. "I . . . never thought I would actually meet my father. Jii-chan and mom never talked about him at all."

Atem nodded, unsure how to respond to that. He looked down at Iggi who had a strange look on his face. Strange for a dog, at least. He looked back up and walked towards the door. "Well, c'mon; better get going."

Yugi nodded and didn't say anything.

In the game shop, the four teens were talking. Ryou was describing some of the places he knew his yami would go whenever they weren't together.

Then Joey would ask a random question, "So wait, how is it that Bakura can go where ever, and you're not like dying? Yugi and Atem can't really go anywhere without each other before Yugi starts burning up."

Ryou shook his head. "Well, me and Bakura are different than Atem and Yugi. Unlike them, me and Bakura have our own dark and light so we can be anywhere in the world without having the need of the other. Yugi, on the other hand, has only light."

"That," Tea added, rolling her eyes, "And we don't even know if Bakura is in Japan or not."

Ryou nodded his head, though he was still looking a bit concern for his other. When he looked away from the three, he saw Atem and Yugi walking towards them with Iggi in step next to his owner. "Hey guys," He smiled.

Yugi didn't say anything but Atem nodded his head in greetings. "Hey, sorry we took so long. There was . . . someone in the living room that startled Yugi." Again Yugi didn't say anything, just looked away, his mind still trying to sort stuff out like why his father decided to show up here and now with out a call or anything.

Tristan frowned. "What kind of someone?" He took noticed of his friends quietness and a strange look on his face.

"It must be an important someone for Yuge to be like this." Joey put in. Never once, had Yugi acted so quiet and distracted. Well, kind of, but none that the blond could think upon right now.

Yugi finally looked up. "My father came to visit."

Joey, Tristan, and Ryou tilted their heads in confusion. They never heard of Yugi talk about his father so they thought he was dead or something like that. They never thought to ask of it because it never came up. Tea, however, gasped.

"He's here? Now?" She said. Unlike the guys, she had known Yugi the longest, so she knew a bit more then they did, even if it wasn't that much. All she knew was that the dad had left when Yugi was born and no one has seen nor heard from him since. When they were kids, Yugi would talk to her about his father, always guessing what he looked like and what he was like. He would always imagine meeting him and he and his mom living as one big family. Now a days, Yugi didn't even utter a word about his father. Those fantasies ended when sixth grade came along and his dad still hadn't shown up.

Yugi nodded. "I don't even know how to describe him." He replayed their first encounter, even if it was only just a few minutes ago. "He . . . All I can say is that he looks familiar but at the same time, he looks like a complete stranger." He looked back towards the door, wishing he could be in the room to talk with his father.

Iggi watched his owner and whined. He didn't like how things were going. His owner had all of these emotions on display, he didn't know which one he was feeling the most. The beagle bumped his head against his owners leg, and when it didn't do anything, he barked, catching everyone's attention. Finally, Yugi looked down at him, a look of forgot and shock on his face.

"Iggi," the teen got down on one knee and the said puppy got up on his hind legs and set his front paws on his owners knees. "Sorry, spaced out. But, I'm guessing you want to go now?" The puppy's tongue rolled out and he did an almost eye roll that Yugi took as a '_duh'._

Ryou cleared his throat, watching owner and dog mingle for the minute. "I really don't mean to interrupt, but, I was wondering if we could uh . . . go now? It'll get dark soon." He bit the inside of his cheek, hating that he sounded so bossy. But, desperate times call for desperate measures. Kind of.

Yugi got to his feet with a guilty smile, looking more like himself. "Uh, sorry. But yeah, we should get going."

Everyone filed out of the store and got into a group of two's. Atem decided to go with Yugi, just in case and so that they could talk, and they were to check out the park. Joey and Tristan went to go check stores and the woods, and Tea and Ryou went to the club and anywhere else that they could think of.

"So, meet up around here . . . . when?" Joey asked, just before they were about to leave.

Tea looked to Ryou who said, "What time is it right now?" He looked down at his wrist but remembered that he forgot to put his watch on earlier.

Tristan looked down at his watch and said, "A quarter till six."

"Alright, meet up here around seven. Is that good with everyone?" They all nodded and even Iggi, who was sitting there like he was part of the circle, which in a way he was. "Alright, see you then." And they all split up, going towards the place they were assigned.

XxxxX

Right when his son walked out of the room, Chokichi mentally grunted. In his mind, he thought '_Huh, never expected him to look like my father. Well, minus his hair color and eye color. I wonder where he got the eye color. Surly not from me . . .' _Then he thought about his son. '_But he did get his shortness from my father. Though, he really isn't that short. So, got genes from mom and dad. Funny.' _Though it didn't amuse him. He turned to look back to the two people in the room and dropped the smile he used for when Yugi had entered the room. Always make a good first impression even if you are not acting like your usual self.

Solomon was still glaring at him, and spoke with a deep, slow voice as he tried to hide his annoyance. "I'll ask you one more time, Chokichi before I kick you out of my house," Said name couldn't help but smirk at that statement but let his father continue, "Why the hell did you come back?"

"Why, to see my old man and wife again. Not to mention met my son for the first time. I always think it's good and healthy for the son to meet his father, no matter what the past was like."

That caused Miyuki to slightly flinched. Solomon noticed from the corner of his eye and patted her arm, trying to send her an unspoken message. That helped the female a bit.

"There's a reason why Yugi hasn't meet you yet." Miyuki said in a low, and somewhat dangerous voice. Her face darkened just a bit. "And I would have prefer him not to have met you whatever the circumstances. And it wouldn't be healthy for him to meet a man like you."

The husband raised an eyebrow but was still smirking. Now he found something to be amused about. "Why, I'm hurt, sweetie."

"I'm not your 'sweetie' and I never will be!" She growled. "When you left all those years ago, you cut off all names and affections and whatever else you used to call me!"

"_**I**_ left? I don't remember me leaving. I only remember you and my so called father kicking me out."

Solomon snorted. "And for a good reason. I will not have my own son beat his wife in my house nor anywhere else. I don't even know how you came to be abusive! I never raised you like that!"

Chokichi finally lost all of his amusement and turned to a cold look. "You barely raised me to begin with, you old man. Mom was the one who raised me. After the divorcement, mom changed. She was no longer a weak woman. She grew to where she hated your guts and had a strong will. Every other week that I saw her before the divorcement, I would learn from her what it was like to hate someone. People would say that wasn't a good thing, but I found it as helpful as making your own money to buy stuff."

For an instant, Solomon felt like a wounded animal. He and his wife, Yugi's grandmother who he's never met, had a great thirty years together until one day they had a fight over something he forgot about. He had been very depressed when she had left him and they got a divorce.

The son continued, "And I wouldn't have been abusive if my own _wife,_" he spat like it was an insult, "knew her duties. You were worthless from the beginning, I don't even know why I decided to marry you and left you with a child."

It got quiet in the room. Chokichi paused, realizing he had gone off course. He had decided earlier that he wouldn't bring up arguments today and just say what his real business here was. But, of course, the past was brought up and he became lost in it. Not to mention angry.

He cleared his throat and straightened his tie out of habit before speaking again,"Sorry, got of course."

Solomon took a step forward, his face stricken with rage. He said the words more slower than before and with each word, it felt like a wave of anger rolled off him, "I will ask you one more time. Why are you here?"

Tired of the game that he had started, he finally gave in. Though, he said it with a cold but calm voice, almost mimicking his father minus the slow-ness, "I came here to retrieve my son and wife."

The other two were speechless.

Miyuki frowned. Did he really come back here, after seventeen years, to try and get her and her two sons back? Did he really think it would be that easy? "Is that really why you came here?" She asked, slowly, making sure it wasn't some kind of joke. "You wanted to take me and my two sons back with you to where ever you're living now?"

"Don't you mean our son?" Chokichi wanted to snap but didn't. "Don't forget that he wouldn't be here if it weren't for me." Then he paused, catching on to what his wife had said. "Sons? We didn't have two kids. We only had one. Has being here made you gone crazy?"

Solomon looked back to Miyuki who looked at him with an '_Oh shit' _look. They had a silent conversation before they both looked back to him.

Miyuki spoke with caution, "No, I gave birth to two boys. They are twins."

Chokichi scoffed. "What the hell is she talking about? I was there when you went through your pregnancy with all of the doctor office visits to when you gave birth. We only had one child and he is Yugi. What ever you are smoking, stop; it's making you think crazy."

Solomon narrowed his eyes. "No. whatever _you _are smoking, stop. When my daughter-in-law gave birth, we thought it was just one child. But, a few minutes later, another came. Were you not paying attention when they came home? Atem and Yugi were both here."

'_Atem? I clearly remember not having a son named Atem.' _But he did remember someone standing behind his son when they stopped in the living room ten minutes ago. He looked like a doppelganger of Yugi, but looking a bit more taller and older. His eyes were more crimson and narrowed instead of his son's amethyst and rounded. The other fellow looked more lean and muscular. And not to mention, the teen, Atem, was wearing more Gothic looking things. He did have his school clothes on, though underneath the uniform was a short-sleeved black shirt. He was wearing a solid gold choker necklace with a strange small eye carved onto it. Chokichi remembered something of it from when he was younger and his father went to Egypt for digs, the eye represented an Egyptian thing. Eye of something... Anubis? Something like that. Anyways, that's what was on the choker. Another necklace though it was a long chain that had hid on the inside of his shirt was there also. Atem also had worn some chains around his wrists, but not that many. And the ones to catch his attention was the boys boots. Not normal shoes, but black, studded (?) boots.

"I will tell you," Chokichi shook his head to get back on the matter at hand, "I do not remember having twins. There was only the child Yugi. Atem or whatever his name was, I do not know where you got him from, but congrats for making it look like Yugi and him are twins. He is no son of mine. I will only be taking you and Yugi," he nodded to Miyuki, "back home with me so we can become a new family."

"Believe it or not," Solomon grunted, "he is your son. You may say he isn't, but he is. And they are not going anywhere with you."

Miyuki nodded. "Yugi and I are remaining here. This is our home. I'm sorry you came all this way to just be sent back. Now, I can either ask you or call the cops; get out of this house."

Chokichi just softly chuckled and rubbed his temples with one hand. "Do not think this is over, _dear._ I will be back and you and our son will be coming back with me whether you want to or not. I will use force if I have too." He dropped his hand then bowed from the Japanese tradition. "Good evening." And then he turned and left without a waiting for a response.

Quickly, the man walked out of the game shop and to his car, all the while grumbling under his breath. "Bastards, both of them. Do they really think they can win against this? They better think again if they do. I _will _get them to come back with me. I _will _use force." He got into his car and turned the ignition on. "Tomorrow, I know Yugi will be thinking about me. He will want to get together and talk." He smiled. "How naive that child is." He laughed and drove away from the game shop.

XxxxX

"Dad, what are we going to do?" Miyuki crashed on the couch and buried her face into her hands. "I don't want this to be a repeat like when Yugi was born. I – I don't think I could go through that again. That took to much therapy to balance everything out. Whatever we going to do?" The poor woman was shaking from head to toe.

Solomon sat down next to her and pulled her to his chest. Softly, he mumbled, "I do not know. All I do know is that we have to keep him away from Yugi and Atem. I can already see bad things happen if they are to be near him."

The woman started to sob. "Y-Yugi will be so mad when he finds out the truth about his father."

Solomon nodded. "I know. When do you plan on telling him?" He asked gently.

"When ever he comes to me."

Another nod. "It'll be alright, Miyuki; I won't let anything happen. If I have to call the police, I will. He won't break our family up. I promise you."

Miyuki barely nodded her head.

Did neither of them know, that promise might be broken.

XxxxX

Walking down the street to the park, the two boys were silent. They were looking for someone so yeah it would be quiet. But, it shouldn't be _this _quiet, should it? They were allow to talk, and like any normal day, they would have chattered up a storm at the same time looking for Bakura. But, there wasn't really any talking going on right now.

Well, that isn't really true. While they were walking, Atem would try to get a conversation with Yugi going, but it didn't really get very far. Yugi would agree with him or disagree with him with a 'Uh huh, yeah,' or a 'sure, not really.' That was about it.

After answering Atem with a 'Sure', Yugi finally sighed. He looked away from his searching to his brother who was watching him with those concern crimson eyes. "Atem, I love you, I do, but, can you . . ." He paused, looking for the right word without trying to hurt him.

"Shut up?" Atem guessed. Yugi shyly nodded. Atem just shook his head with a smile. "Sorry, aibou, no can do."

Frowning, Yugi tilted his head. "Why not?"

"Because only one of us is allowed to be quiet. And that is only sometimes. The other has to always keep a conversation going. And usually, we both are talking so we keep on a conversation." He gave this sort of pouting impression off. "And usually, I'm the one who is quiet. You always have something to say. You being this quiet is like the Nile going dry." He said dryly.

Yugi shrugged and didn't crack a smile. He went back to looking. "Just a lot going on." '_Though, not really. I just . . . didn't expect someone like my dad to _ever _show up. I thought I would never ever meet him. Ever.' _

"You know, Yugi, if you want to talk about it, I'm all ears." Atem said gently. "I know how you're feeling about this. This being the first time you've ever seen him."

"Really? I find that hard to believe." Yugi mumbled. "You grew up knowing your dad. I didn't."

"I know because of what you are feeling. I don't know what you're thinking, but I do know how you are feeling. You're confused and happy and angry all at the same time. Happy because you get to finally see him after all these years. Confused on why he is here. And angry because of why it took so long for him to have come." Atem stopped walking and so did Yugi.

Yugi was still looking away so Atem softly grabbed his chin and turned him to face him. Crimson met amethyst. He let him go. "Yugi, I just want you to know that I will be there for you no matter what. If you need someone to talk to about your father, I will listen. I can tell you want to talk to mom about him, it being obvious," he added when Yugi curiously looked at him. "so do that when we get home. Just know that I am here. I do not know this man –,"

"Neither do I," Yugi said with an almost jealous hint to it. But, his voice sounded more sad than jealous.

"And _that's _why you know I'm here for you. Me and all of our friends are. Just remember that." Atem gave a half smile before he patted Yugi's hair like he was a kid. "C'mon, we should continue looking."

Yugi watched as Atem took Iggi's leash and continued on walking. The puppy looked back to his owner with a sad look and then barked.

"Thank you, Atem." Yugi whispered. He knew that he could always talk to him about anything. But, just being reminded that, he felt a bit better. Still confused and angry with about his father, but a bit better.

He quickly caught up with his brother. "It's just . . . Seventeen years later, and he finally shows up. Over a decade of waiting." Yugi said, out of the blue. "I didn't know how to react when I saw him. I _still _don't know how to."

Atem nodded, mentally sighing in relief that his partner decided to finally talk. "Everyone reacts differently. You were in shock, and by the looks of it, you still are."

"I know. But, let's say you never met your father before and you just met him today. What would you do?"

"Depends," he said in a matter-of-fact voice.

"On?"

"Do I know anything about him?"

Yugi shook his head. "Nope. Nothing. You didn't even know his name much less what he looked like."

"Then how do I know he is my father?" Atem asked. Might as well have a bit of fun, right?

The other huffed but was starting to look more like himself. "Uh . . . your mom introduced you to him. That's how you know him."

Atem nodded. He thought for a moment. What would he do if this had been his first time. "Well, truthfully, I think I would have acted like how you did. I would have been in so much shock that I wouldn't have been even able to think, much less talk." He thought some more. "If we had time to talk to each other, I would probably have drowned him with questions."

Yugi nodded. He wanted to do that when his father had actually started to talk to him, but he didn't get the chance. Mom, obviously didn't want them there, had shooed him and Atem out of the room. '_Huh, at least there's always tomorrow. I hope . . .'_

"So, you really would have been in shock too?" Yugi asked, just wanting to be sure.

Atem nodded again. "Yup."

"Alright." Yugi said. "Well, one more thing."

"Yes?" He looked at his Light with a curious look.

Yugi looked down an alleyway but only saw a brick wall and a few over-turned trash cans. "Do you think I will really be able to talk with my father tomorrow? He said that he would be here all week, but . . . I don't know if my mind wants to believe that. The looks Jii-chan and mom were giving him were not very kind. And when he said that, mom almost had a look of fear."

"I noticed that too," Atem said, lost in thought. "But, if he said he is going to be here all week, he probably will. I doubt he would just come here to Japan from somewhere and only stay one day. That would just be wasting money."

"True . . . I just want to know why he never stayed here." Yugi sadly sighed.

Atem thought for a minute, "Well, when we get home, you can always ask mom. I bet since your dad came here, she's going to explain things now. And if she won't, ask Jii-chan. One of them are bound to tell you the truth."

Yugi nodded. He looked a bit excited. "That is true. But, I'll ask mom when we get home." he looked inside a girl's clothing store. Never know where Bakura could be.

For the next hour, they all looked. And when they came back to the rendezvous point, they all were empty handed. Ryou hunched his shoulders.

"I'm never going to find him . . ."

Joey placed a hand on his shoulder. "You will. Don't worry. Remember, we found Yugi . . . or he found us." He added when Yugi frowned at him. "We'll find Bakura. Or, he may come home on his own. He is a big boy now. Just relax."

Tea nodded. "Yeah. We'll just wait it out. You never know, he may be out of town looking for a cat to bring home." She smirked and Ryou's head shot up.

"Oh, he better not! I can't stand that Persian he brought home! I don't even know why I let him keep it!"

Yugi smiled. He was kneeling on the ground, playing with Iggi. "If you want, I could always get Iggi to chase him away." At the sound of his name, the puppy barked, sounding like he was agreeing.

Ryou smiled weakly. "I love the offer, but I would be dead if Bakura came home and the cat wasn't here. That, and Iggi might be missing also."

Both Yugi and the dog widened their eyes just a tad. Before Yugi could respond, Atem grunted out, "Yeah, over my dead body." He was standing there with his arms across his shoulders and was frowning.

"Aww," Tristan slung his arm around Atem's shoulder. "Did someone get very attached to the puppy?"

Atem gently, but firmly to get him off, elbowed his friend in the side. 'As a matter of fact, I did. And, Yugi would kill _me _if I didn't do anything." They all look to their friend who smiled widely and nodded his head.

Joey whistled. "Man, what have we turned Yugi into?" Though he was smiling.

As they continued to talk, the sun started to set early. So they had to break up and go home for the night.

Yugi said to Ryou already and Joey and Tristan, now he was saying good night to his girl friend. He kissed her softly on the lips. "I'll see you tomorrow at the movies, alright?"

She nodded and leaned for another kiss. "Mmhmm."

Atem rolled his eyes and so did Iggi. He moved forward and grabbed his Light's jacket collar and started to move towards the house. "You said you good nights already. Now let's get inside." Over his shoulder, he called out to a giggling Tea, "Night, Tea."

Yugi pouted. "Meanie head." Then to his girl friend. "Good night, Tea. Make sure to call me when you get home safely." It wasn't like he was an over protective boyfriend, he always have done this. When Tea had ever come over and left after dark, he would make her promise that she would call him to tell him she got home safely. If she forgot to call, he would panic and let his imagination get carried away.

Tea nodded. "I will. Good night, Yugi, Atem."

XxxxX

Once in the house, the two boys went towards the kitchen where they were going to eat a late dinner. Yugi let Iggi off the leash who slowly padded into the kitchen after Atem.

In the kitchen, all of the dishes were washed except for a pot of spaghetti on the stove. Two plates were next to it, meaning they belonged to Yugi and Atem. Grandpa was sitting at the kitchen table, his head in his hands. For once, he really did look his age. Just sitting there with his shoulders hunched over. But when the boys walked in, he looked up, looking more like himself.

"Ah, I was wondering when you three would show up." He said, including the puppy who went to his food bowl and happily ate the food already in it.

Atem nodded. "Yeah, sorry we're late. We were out helping Ryou look for Bakura. Apparently Bakura had gone out yesterday and decided not to return. We looked all over the city."

Grandpa looked bewildered. "Should we call the police to send out a search team?"

Yugi shook his head and went to the pot of food that made his stomach growl. "No, we're going to wait it out. If he doesn't show up soon, maybe."

As Yugi was talking, something about Grandpa seemed to change. His expression went to a bit sad like he was about to deliver him some bad news. Before he allowed his grandson to dish himself some food, he stood up from his chair and walked over to him. He placed a hand on the teens shoulder.

"Yugi, before you eat, your mom wanted to talk with you."

Yugi tilted his head and put the spoon back down. Atem who was right next to him, also titled his head. "About what?" Yugi asked.

Grandpa sighed. "Oh, I think you know."

And he did. "Where is she?"

"Upstairs in her room."

Yugi nodded and left the room without a word.

Atem watched his Light leave before turning to Grandpa. "Jii-chan, I was wondering . . ."

The older man nodded his head. "You want to know about Yugi's father, am I right?" He nodded. "Alright, well, dish yourself some dinner and I will tell you."

Atem quickly got some spaghetti onto his plate and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and sat down at the table. Iggi lifted an ear, looking like he was listening too while he ate.

"Well," Grandpa started off, "It all began before Yugi was born."

XxxxX

Quietly, Yugi made his way up the stairs, taking one at a time. Finally, after so many years, he was going to learn something about his father. More than 'He lives somewhere else and won't bother us anymore'. He's been looking forward to this day for quite some time now.

As he inched closer, something in Yugi's mind was rejecting the idea of learning about his father, like it was too scared or that he wouldn't like what he was going to hear. But, he pushed the thought and feeling away. He's waited long enough.

Once on the top step, Yugi peaked down the hall. His room was dark and was wide opened. Atem liked to keep his door opened, but at a crack. The bathroom door was opened but dark. The only room left was the guest room, but they turned it into their mom's room when she decided to live with them again. Her door was opened a crack and light shined underneath the hole.

Yugi walked over to the door and softly knocked two times before entering.

Inside the room, had a nice aura about it. The over head light was turned to a low and the lamp on the nightstand was on medium. The walls were a light pink color, for some odd reason, though it helped make the place peaceful. The room was pretty small so it only contained two dressers, a queen-size bed with light blue sheets on it, the nightstand and lamp and a book case that was filled with books and many picture frames. The pictures of when she was a little girl to teen to grown up. They had many unfamiliar people in them. Some of the pictures were of Yugi when he was a baby to growing up. Some of Grandpa and a few of Atem. And one or two of Iggi.

Sitting on her bed, reading a thick book, was his mom. She was dressed in her pajamas while laying back against the wall. When Yugi had walked in, she looked up and smiled weakly.

"So, Solomon sent you here?" Yugi nodded and went over to the bed. He hopped up and sat in front of his mom with his legs criss-crossed.

"Mom, I think it's time I know about dad."

XxxxX

Till next time! And another cliff hanger! XD I'm so mean to y'all!

And, I need y'alls help. The look I gave Atem, I don't really like it... I was going more for a Yugi type look but Gothic? I just remember back before Battle City, Yugi was changing the string for a chain for the Millennium Puzzle and Yami had said something about something. :p And then when Yugi had asked Tea to go on a date with Yami, Yami was curious about why Yugi was dressing like that. So... if you have any thoughts, they would be greatly appreshiated. I do, however, have a few thoughts already... but I need more help going towards jewelry... ^^ Please and thank you!

Oh, and before I answer my anonymous viewers, Lisa is not here... she's somewhere else and shouldn't be here for a while. :)

**Couldn'tThinkOfaName: **I'm so happy! Well, so that you have no idea about Bakura. Exact reaction I waaaanted! ^^ And I do agree, when you can easily predict what's going to happen, it's no fun! And awww, thank you! I just flow with my story and when ever I feel like ending it, or when it looks good, that's when I do it. But, I was going for a cliffy because they are awwwesome! And Chokichi! ^^ And don't worry, I always forget how to spell his name. For some reason the spelling doesn't want to stay in my head . And thank you, I feel awesome that you said that! (Though in a way, it should be bad) But, if something had happened to me in where I couldn't write to my story anymore, because I was in a coma or something, I would leave a note to my sister to send a Authors note to y'all. ((And I wouldn't know how I would do that if I were in a coma.)) But, glad you liked it!

**AnzuFan: **And thank you! ^^ I know I will always have y'all to read! That's the only reason why I update still. And just, thank you! XD

**Kisara: **And all those questions will be answered! Some of them this chapter and some future chapters! :) You have to read to find out! And I will. Thankfully, it didn't take as long to update this chapter! And I know right? I, even as the author, wanted to write to what kind of things Atem did as drunk. But, hehehehe, I can't say!


	7. The Past Is Revealed

This chapter kind of reminded me of a Mother-Son moment. ^^ And – **Phone rings-** Oh, hold that thought. -picks up- Howdy, this is -

Lisa:_How dare you!_

Oh... .'' L-lisa... hi. I- uh- Well, what a surprise. How are things with you? ….

_Lisa: How are things with me? You really want to know? IT'S BEEN HELL! HOW DARE YOU SEND ME TO OBIDEANCE SCHOOL YOU CRAZY B****!_

…. Uh.. sorry?

_Lisa: You better be! When I get my hands on you –_

Well... I hope you have a lovely time there, Lisa. But, uh, I got to go...

_Lisa: Like hell I'm going to k- -click-_

o.o Well... uh... so.. on with the story!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

**Chapter Six:**

Miyuki closed her book with a soft _thunk _and put it on her nightstand. She turned to her son and sat up straight, looking like the two were about to share secrets at a girls slumber party. She breathed in then exhaled it slowly. Blinking her soft blue eyes, she looked her son straight in the eyes.

"Yugi, I just want you to know that I kept your father a secret from you to protect you, nothing else. I know that sounds lame and dumb, but, you didn't need to have those kind of thoughts in your mind when you were that age or any age as a matter of fact. But, I think it's time to tell you the true things about your father. You father is a cruel man, though he wasn't always like that. Before you were born, he was sweet and charming and wasn't like any other guy I have ever met. He was . . ." She almost sighed dreamily like a school girl.

"Uh . . . Mom?" Yugi gently waved his hand in front of her face when she didn't say anything. He couldn't help but smile.

Miyuki lightly blushed and she recovered, "Ah, sorry, honey. Well, you understand how he was. And you know, we were high school sweethearts too. We were in the same grade and started going out in our junior year. It was nice. Not once did we ever break up or even think about it. As some of my friends would have said, we were meant to be." She sadly smiled. "So, after high school, and a few months later, we got married. Things were normal between us. We had our honeymoon in the United Sates. I don't really know why, but it was your fathers dream to go there." She shrugged and continued. "After our honeymoon, we came back to Japan and rented out an apartment. After everything was moved in, I found out I was pregnant!"

Yugi smiled along with her. "Let me guess, you were pregnant with me?"

Miyuki rolled her eyes and ruffled her sons hair. "Well, duh. You think I was pregnant with a monkey?" They both laughed.

"Well, while I went through the pregnancy, things were still normal. Both me and your father were very excited that we were going to finally have our first born baby. Though, I think your father was more excited. He would always rub my stomach at night and would talk to you. At the time, I had thought, 'Man, he's going to be a great father.' Boy, was I wrong." She looked down at her hands.

XxxxX

Both men sat at the table in the kitchen. Atem ate his spaghetti quietly while grandpa sat in the chair right next to him. Grandpa folded his hands on the table and thought for a moment.

"Well, before Yugi was born, his father, Chokichi and Miyuki, were madly in love with each other. They were high school sweethearts since eleventh grade. People said they were made for each other."

Atem chewed and swallowed his mouth full of food. "So, if they were high school sweethearts, how does this –,"

Grandpa chuckled and held his hand up to stop his grandson. "I'm not done yet." Atem bowed his head in embarrassment and forked another serving into his mouth. He let him continue. "As I was saying, they were high school sweethearts. They got married soon after high school and went on their honeymoon. When they came back, they moved into an apartment and that was when they found out Miyuki was pregnant. Boy were they both happy. My son, was the most though. When he found out, he came straight here to tell me the news. I thought I never saw him more happy." He smiled. "I can still remember the day he told me what gender Yugi was going to be. 'A boy' he had told me with so much enthusiasm. I could have sworn he was going to explode with all that happiness inside him. He was the happiest man in the world. Then, the months started to pass by." His expression turned grim and a shadow seemed to pass through his eyes.

Iggi was finished eating so he walked over to the table and sat down at Atem's feet. He yawned then plopped down to a laying position.

XxxxX

Yugi didn't know what to say. All he could do was bit his cheek. As he listened to his mom continue on with her story, he felt a vibration in his pocket. It went off once, meaning it was a text message. No doubt it was Tea, letting him know she got home okay. He didn't bring it out of his pocket, it would have been rude. So, he ignored it. That and he was too eager to find out what his father was like. So far it was good and it sounded like he was a good-hearted man. But, something seemed like that was false.

"Well, about six months of being pregnant with you," She continued and looked up to met her sons eyes. "Chokichi got a really good job. He was working as a banker but the pay wasn't cutting it, especially when you were going to be born. We wouldn't have made it. I worked at a nursery, being another 'mom' to help out. The pay was understandable though it wasn't the best. Together, our makings earned us enough for just the two of us. But, it wasn't going to be enough for when you came. So, he got a new job. The pay was a lot higher and with that, we could live comfortable. I stayed with my job so I knew more about kids and could still learn.

"With the new job, came a lot of hours. I barely saw him. The only times I did see him was when he got home and went to bed to waking up at the same time. That was it. At first, he was too excited to care, since now we would be making enough to also support you. Then, as the days turned to weeks, we both started to hate it. Sometimes, I would go to his work and give him a surprise lunch visit. At first, he enjoyed it, then started getting mad at me, saying I'm 'interrupting' his working and that it would take a lot longer to get his work done. So, I stopped giving him visits." She sighed, and closed her eyes for a minute.

When she reopened her eyes, those blue orbs looked more older, maybe more tired. "About two weeks after I stopped visiting him at work, he came home early one day. And . . . he yelled at me."

Yugi narrowed his eyes. "Why?" He almost felt like Atem. When something bad happened or when someone was being mean to him or his friends, this was exactly how he appeared. Looking like his normal self as the pharaoh.

"He wanted to know why I stopped visiting him." She shook her head and looked away. She started to look at the pictures on her bookshelf. "We got into an argument. And, with every argument, there was a slap."

"Don't tell me he slapped you . . ."

Miyuki nodded but didn't turn to look at him. "Yes. But, after he did that, he immediately regretted it. He told me sorry over and over again and wrapped me in his arms. I could tell he was sorry and didn't mean that at all. I blamed it on his job. All of those long days, you would think so too. What a fool I was.

"As I got closer to giving birth to you, my husband changed. He wasn't the man I loved anymore. He became cold and quiet. He always would rather go to work than be with me or even his own father."

'_Huh, sounds like someone I know.' _Yugi thought, thinking of a certain friend that was running his own company and has been since the age of like, ten. ((A/n Right?))

Miyuki's eyes rested on a picture frame of her and Chokichi. It was a high school picture that someone had took of them. Chokichi was smiling for the camera, looking relaxed and looked like he had a fun side to him. On top of that, he was laughing. She had her arms wrapped around his neck as she appeared behind him, smiling like a crazy person; her grin so wide and goofy. She sighed, remembering that day.

"Well, we had more arguments, though none of them involved hitting each other. Just mean words." Yugi's mom's voice got softer, though loud enough for her son to still hear. "I would always ask him why he couldn't just take a day or two off of work and just stay at the house with me or go to any of my doctor appointments. He would always say the same thing over and over again. 'I have to work.'"

XxxxX

"Things started to get bad for the couple," Grandpa continued. "The closer Miyuki got closer to giving birth, Chokichi became more distant. He became a whole new person. He didn't have the kind atmosphere about him anymore whenever he came to visit. Well, that was when ever he did come over." The older man sighed. He looked down at the puppy who was now leaning his head against Atem's leg, using him as a pillow. "My son was all work and no play. While he went to work, Miyuki had gone to her work as a nursery mom. But, that was only from Monday to Wednesday. The rest of the week, if she wasn't at a doctors appointment or with her friends, she came over here. We would talk about the baby and other things that she should have discussed with the father. But since he was never home . . ."

Atem took a sip of his water and nodded. '_Man, if he was like that then, I wonder what it was like when Yugi was born.' _He thought.

"I never minded, though." Grandpa smiled at this. "I was – am the grandfather, so I knew I had to help out. I was already excited about Yugi, seeing as how this was my first grandson. And with Miyuki always coming to me with the news, I was part of something. I heard things first, well, second if she decided to tell someone else first. Any change, I was notified. I helped in any way my daughter-in-law would want."

"Wait, how is Yugi your first grandson?" Atem asked, not indicating himself. "Was Chokichi your only son?"

He nodded. "Yes. Yours and Yugi's grandmother," he said, "she didn't stick around too much after Chokichi had turned seven. We got a divorce and our son had to go back and forth between us so we could both take care of him but just separately. I'm sad to say that Chokichi took more after his mother than from me. He learned more, to say. It was rather complicated. I didn't get remarried because I couldn't bring myself to do it. I stilled loved Moeitchi." His eyes became glazed over a bit, but he quickly shook his head and continued, "So now, I only have two grandsons and one son and one daughter-in-law. I was an only child also, so I have no other family. Moeitchi had a lot of family on her side; cousins, sisters and brothers. To you and Yugi, they would be your Great Aunts and Uncles, and second cousins. Though, before you start asking, I don't know that much about them and Yugi hasn't met any of them. Only Chokichi knows them, to be honest.

"Anyways, I'm getting side-tracked. Where was I?"

Atem thought for a minute before replying, "You were apart of something and you were happy. Mom kept coming to you with news and advice." Man did he have a good memory.

Grandpa nodded, remembering his place. "Ah, that's right. Well, as I had told you, Miyuki always came to me with news. Later that day or whenever she would see her husband, she would tell him. But, sometimes that would take a while. Chokichi had a busy schedule. Got up at seven am and went to work all day so he usually got home around nine or ten. I mean, he had long days. And when he got home, he would go straight to bed."

Atem nodded in agreement. And here he thought school was torture.

"But, when Miyuki got closer to her due date (once again), things started to get bad. Chokichi came home one night a bit earlier. He was in a horrible mood from work and he . . . took it out on Miyuki." His voice faltered a bit, but he quickly got back on track. Atem could feel his eyes narrow just a bit. "By the time he had got home, Miyuki was just leaving here with news of her latest doctors appointment. It was so long ago, I honestly don't remember what the appointment was about. But, let's just say when she got home, she was in for a big, surprise."

XxxxX

Yugi didn't like where this story was going. But, he let his mom continue. He needed to know what had happened, even if he wasn't going to like it.

Miyuki looked on to the next picture. It was her wedding picture. She and Chokichi had just walked out of the church and people were throwing rice into the air. The picture shot was with them kissing as they walked out.

"Well . . . his working never stopped. So, I kind of just quit on him, even though he was my husband. After all my appointments or anything that was big, happen, I would come here and share it with Solomon. I knew it was a joy for him to see me." She sadly smiled again. "But, with every news I shared with him, the more I realized I was forgetting about Chokichi. I mean, you couldn't blame me. He was never home. And when I tried to call him at work, he never would answer. And you already know what would happen if I went to visit him during his day."

"So, basically, dad just forgot about you too?" Yugi asked, just wanting to keep the topic understandable.

Miyuki nodded. She looked away from her book case, feeling like those happy memories were making her sad. Which, they were.

"In a way, yes. It wasn't until one night, that he remembered me and you." Her face darkened just a bit. "I came home from Solomon's house and found Chokichi in the living room. The TV wasn't turned on, nor the radio nor anything else in the house. Only one lamp in the living room was on, that was it. I remembered almost being scared to death when I entered the room.

"When I saw it was him, I got really excited. For once, he was off early, even if it was like two hours earlier. I remembered thinking to myself, 'wow, we can finally have a night to ourselves'. Though, that thought didn't last long. Chokichi was very mad. He found out that I told his father everything about you first and not him. He was yelling and cussing and, god, he was very loud and in a angry mood." She rubbed her temple for a minute, almost like this only happened a day or two ago and she was just now telling someone.

"I remember arguing back. I told him that he was never here and everything else. And all of it was true. I told him that if he didn't work so much, then he would have been the first to know. The arguing went on for a while. I swear the neighbors below us and around us could hear us."

Quietly, Yugi asked in a small, but strong voice, "So, how did the arguing stop?"

"You really want to know?" Yugi nodded, though winced at his mother's strain voice. For what felt like the tenth time, he felt like he didn't want to know. Something in him wanted to reject it and just run out of the room. But, no matter how bad the feeling will get, Yugi stayed put, knowing it was important. "He hit me in the face. Yes, I know what you're thinking, that he regretted it afterward. But, he didn't. Not like the first time. No, it was something even worse." She paused. And right then, she became angry. "He blamed everything on the unborn child."

Yugi frowned and looked confused. "The unborn chi –, me? Why did he blame it on me? I didn't have anything to do with it. I wasn't even _born _yet!"

"It didn't matter if you were born or not." She said. "He blamed you because he was stupid and was listening to his coworkers too much." Yugi was still confused. "I never really took any notice, but he loved money as much as he loved me. It wasn't something he was very proud of, I mean, who was? If he never told me about it in the earlier days, so he must have had it all under control. But, when he went to work, his control must have broken and he became greedy. That's why he worked so much; to make more money and live a comfortable life.

"Well, maybe I'm getting a little to far ahead of myself." Miyuki frowned and paused. "I did tell you that your father was very happy to find out that I was pregnant with you, right?"

"Mmhmm."

"Okay, good. Then, I'm right where I should be. Like I said, Chokichi worked a lot and made a lot of money. He was never home and didn't really see me anymore. And with that, he forgot about you. He forgot I was six months or seven months pregnant with you. So, when he finally remembered, he got very mad, all of a sudden."

Yugi thought for a minute. "Do you remember how he remembered?"

She nodded and had that annoyed frown upon her face. "His coworkers. Apparently, they had kids of their own and always talked about them. They said that they always had to take care of their kids and buy them stuff and that they are a big waste of money."

Yugi grew mad. "Then why have kids?" He didn't mean it like that, but more as, "Why have kids if you're just going to call them a waste and if you don't like them? Why have kids if you're just going to mistreat them?"

Miyuki just shrugged her shoulders. Her face softened, "I don't know, honey. If I knew, I would tell you."

XxxxX

"What kind of surprised?" Atem asked and took a big mouthful of pasta, usually like how Yugi would do it. But, unlike Yugi, Atem was less messy and knew how to be clean and neat.

Grandpa watched his grandson with an amused expression, being reminded of his other grandson, but then quickly turned back to his original state. "A bad surprise, I'm afraid. As what she had told me, when she had gone home to her apartment, Chokichi was there, off work early. He was sitting in the living room, waiting for his wife to come home. When she saw him, he had hit her, meaning it."

Atem almost choked on his noodles but managed to keep it down. "What?"

"Yes. It's sad but true."

"Why the hell did he hit her?" The teen almost growled, angered by the news even if it had happened seventeen years ago.

Grandpa raised an eyebrow at his grandson cursing, but let it slide. He cleared his throat and went on, "My son is a greedy man. Always has been. I think he got that off of my ex. Though, when Chokichi was younger, meaning also in high school and after, he knew how to control it and not let it show. His greed was shown differently than most. It's rather hard to explain, so I won't explain it.

"Anyways, like I said, my son is a greedy man. His greed finally showed its true colors when he went to work. About six months for Miyuki being pregnant with your brother, Miyuki found out about his greed. Before, she didn't know anything about it because he kept it from her. But, then it showed. He was greedy about the money and it going to waste. Wasting it on a newborn." Grandpa explained when Atem opened his mouth. "Chokichi didn't want to waste all of his money on his son. He wanted to keep it and save it up."

"But, I thought he wanted a son." Atem objected. "You said he was excited that he was going to be a father."

"Yes, but that was six months before. During those months, he went to work. He was listening to the other workers who had kids and how they always had to buy stuff like food and clothes and toys. I guess, after all of that, Chokichi took that hint and decided he didn't want a kid anymore. He didn't want to waste his money on useless stuff." Grandpa took a deep breath.

XxxxX

"Anyways, Chokichi listened to them," she continued, getting back on track. "He started thinking about how he would be spending all of his hard earned cash on you, and that made him mad. He didn't want to spend his money on stuff like that. He even told me spending the money on me was already too much." She shook her head with disgust. "I just can't believe he changed so much."

Yugi nodded, silently. "So... what happened after he slapped you?"

"We both started fighting with one another. He was blaming you for everything and he started hitting me. He told me I was a good for nothing and all of these other insults. He went all out that I ended up with bruises all over my cheeks and arms. Of course I covered it all up with make-up."

"Why didn't you tell anyone though?" Her son asked. "Why cover it all up?"

Miyuki shrugged once again. "He threatened me." He tilted his head. "Threatened me that he would hurt you if I told anyone. Although, I told your grandfather, but he was like me and didn't say anything. Not for a while, anyways.

"I tried to have things go back to normal, minus the part about going to the apartment whenever I knew Chokichi was home. I tried to be else where and busy myself. But, sometimes he caught me and beat me up."

Yugi's hands started to curl and uncurl in his lap, unseen by his mother. He felt a small, tiny flame of anger building in the pit of his stomach because of his father. Like his friends, you can't get away with hurting his mother without some kind of consequence coming your way. He stayed quiet though. Getting mad right now wouldn't do anything. Yes, he has a kind and gently soul, but when it comes to his personal life, something that didn't usually came up, he changed. Just like when Pegeasus took Grandpa's soul all those years ago.

Miyuki smiled all of a sudden. That smile extinguished the little flame in Yugi's tummy and he relaxed just a bit. Though, he didn't know why. His mother always had that affect on people. "And before I knew it, you were born. Chokichi was actually there when I was in labor and instead of that greedy self I've been watching for the last three months, he was back to his original self. Solomon was there too, giving support. But, it all went well. Not once did Chokichi show that bad side of him. He was sweet and loving again.

"Of course that didn't last as long as I had hoped. A week after you were born, I came here to hang out and let your grandfather hold you and to just relax. The apartment was lonely since your father went back to work. I needed someone to talk to and help out a bit. Well, I was here for like an hour or so when Chokichi showed up. He said that he went home early to be with me only to find me not there. He was beyond pissed." She did a slight eye roll, trying to make it look like no big deal, though her eyes were sad and angry from the memory.

"Here, Chokichi started yelling and hitting and cursing. I tried to yell back, but he wouldn't let me. Solomon jumped in immediately and also started yelling. One good thing that happened though, was that Chokichi didn't hit his father. If he did, the cops would have showed up and things would have gone to hell."

Yugi tilted his head. "So, let me get this right. You didn't call the cops when you and Jii-chan were yelling at him? Why?"

His mom slightly shrugged her shoulders. "Because. The fighting only lasted a good fifteen minutes and after that, I told him I never wanted to see him again. He was no longer the husband that I knew and loved. He was a selfish, greedy bastard and he had to leave. He was not allowed to stay here and watch you grow up. He was not allowed to be anywhere near you and if he was, I would call the police."

"So you gave him a warning." Yugi said, catching on. She nodded. "A warning that if he showed his face again, you would tell the police everything that he had done; hitting you. But, you had a kind heart and let him go. You were going to black mail him."

"Yes. I don't know what I was thinking then. I guess I really did love him even with everything that had happened. I just couldn't bring myself or Solomon to call the police. I would have been devastated if I had. He was better off just leaving."

For the first time since the conversation had started, it got quiet. Miyuki tried very hard to stay strong and not break down. Yugi was just thinking things through, trying to get all of the information straight. He figured out a lot tonight. Stuff he wanted to know since he understood that his father was gone. Now, he was glad he was told just now. The news would have ruined his whole childhood... But, he was also mad that he was just now told.

"So," Yugi said, breaking his mom's quietness. "When dad left, where did he go for seventeen years?"

Miyuki shrugged. "I honestly do not know. My guess would be to the United States. He really liked it there and wanted to move there. But, I wanted to stay in here in Japan where we both grew up. He didn't mind at the time."

Yugi nodded.

XxxxX

Just as Atem was finishing his dinner, Grandpa was closing the story. "I'll make things short and simple for you. When Yugi was born, his father, at first was happy again. He was back to his original self that it looked like he never changed. When he held Yugi for the first time, I was reminded when he first told me the news that his wife was pregnant. He was actually the one to have named Yugi."

Atem raised an eyebrow in a silent shock.

"Yup. He wanted to name him something that he grew up around. Something that would be fun and unique. And, since Chokichi grew up around games, he decided to name his son Yugi. I felt touched by that and felt like my son liked some of his childhood when he was with me. He always played games when he wasn't with his mom. So, I felt honored.

"Though, that happiness didn't last long. Before I knew it, things went back to what it was like through those sixth months. For the first few days, Miyuki stayed at her home. She didn't want to expose her baby to the world yet. If anyone wanted to see the baby, they had to come to her. Even me." He smiled. "After about a week at being cooped up there, she brought baby Yugi here. Chokichi was at work, and didn't get off till ten, so she knew she had plenty of time.

"We had been talking for a good hour or two. Just stuff about Yugi . . . I think. But, anyways, while we were talking, guess who showed up in an angry mood?"

"Chokichi." Atem stated. He finished his meal and half of his water. He leaned down and scratched Iggi behind the ear, who lazily enjoyed the sensation that he didn't move from spot. "But, I thought he didn't get off until ten?"

Grandpa shrugged. "Same here. We didn't really find out why he had gotten off early because he started arguing with Miyuki. Yugi was sound asleep, and I still don't know how he slept through that whole dispute. But, he did."

"Was the argument the same?"

"Kind of. My son was beyond pissed and started to take it off on his wife. I wouldn't have any of it so I stepped in. I didn't call the cops because I knew we could handle it. After a good while of fighting, Miyuki told him off."

"What did she say?"

"To leave and never come back."

Atem frowned at his grandpa in that '_there's-more-to-that-than-you're-letting-on' _way. He stopped the scratching and crossed his hands on the table.

"Okay okay, no need for yelling," Grandpa joked, trying to lighten the mood. "Lets just say that she told him to never come back, he wasn't allowed to see his son anymore, and that they were threw. Though, for some reason, she never divorced him, which I find odd."

Atem nodded. "And that's the story about Yugi's father? So, why did he come back all of a sudden?"

Grandpa stood up and grabbed Atem's plate. "Well, Chokichi is 'claiming' that he wants to take Miyuki and Yugi back with him to live as a family." He walked over to the sink and rinsed the plate and fork off before putting it into the dish washer.

"What? Why?" Atem frowned. "He hasn't been here for all of Yugi's life. He can't just do that!"

"I know, but, that's what he's going to try to do. Though I don't think it'll go well." Grandpa came back over to the table and patted his grandson's shoulder, trying to comfort him. "Don't worry, Atem, me and Miyuki will take care of things. We won't be losing them. If it's a fight my son wants, he will get one."

Atem nodded, thinking that was true. He wasn't going to lose Yugi. Not now, not ever.

"Well, I'm going off to bed," Grandpa said with a yawn. He looked over to the clock on the wall and grunted. "Already ten-thirty. Way past my bedtime. Good night, Atem, and I'll see you in the morning."

"Night, Jii-chan." Atem also stood up, waking Iggi from his doze. The puppy grunted and also got to his paws with a big yawn. After a minute, Atem shook his head and looked down to Iggi and said, "I can't believe this." Iggi tilted his head to the side. "I just hope everything will turn out okay for Yugi and mom." He then sighed and decided it was time to go to bed too.

Following behind him, Iggi trotted. He watched as his owners brother turned the kitchens light off then headed for the stairs.

XxxxX

"So, that's the story about your father." Miyuki said. "I just didn't want you to learn that your father was a bad man for all that he did. I didn't want you growing up with those images. I just wanted you to be clueless so you could think of a better man as a father."

"I know, mom." Yugi softly said. "And, growing up, I kind of already had a father. Jii-chan was there for me through everything. When I didn't really have friends, he was there."

"Yes, and I have to apologize for that," his mom reached out and gently took her son's hand into her own. "The reason why I wasn't here most of the time while you were growing up, was because I left to get some help."

Yugi frowned and turned his hand around so he could squeeze hers. "Help?"

She nodded. "I had to go to some therapy classes because after your father left for good, I broke down. It felt like my whole world was shattered. I never saw him again after that day and that was just horrible for me. When you reached the age four, both Solomon and me thought it was best to look for some help." She gave him a half smile. "The therapist there told me that I needed to travel and see new things and to slowly start healing. I made visits here because I missed you, but the therapist said not to make them quite as often because it could trigger something and I would break all over again."

"Well, that makes a lot more sense." Yugi said, now able to piece everything together. "I thought you had left because you couldn't stand being here."

Her eyes widen. "What? No, I wanted to be here. I did! I missed you so much it felt like I was dying inside. So, when I finally healed up, I came back to stay. I was so happy. I missed you so much!" She said, meaning when she came back a few months.

Yugi smiled softly. "I'm really glad you cam back, mom."

"I know, honey." Miyuki then pulled him into a hug, hugging him tightly.

Yugi hugged her back. They continued to hug as Yugi stated, "So, the reason why you told me you were on business trips, so that I wouldn't worry?" He felt her nod her head.

They stayed like that for the longest time before Miyuki finally pulled away. "Yugi, I just want you to know that I will do everything in my power to keep you away from him. I don't exactly know what he's planning, but he wants us to come and live with him."

Yugi's eyes widened in anger. "What? Even after everything he did?"

"I think he wanted me to forget and to start off on a clean slab. But, I won't. I will never forgive him for what he did. If he never blamed you for this, then maybe I could have. But, no, you had nothing to do with it."

"Well, maybe if I was never born, nothing like this would have happened." Yugi looked away with a hint of jealousy in his voice.

Miyuki gently took her son's chin in her hand and turned him to look at her. "Don't you _ever _say that. I love you so much. I would never trade you in for getting my old life with Chokichi back to normal for all the money in the world. I would hate myself for doing that." She looked mad and shocked all in one.

Yugi smile and relaxed against his mothers touch. "Just making sure."

Miyuki leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek and released him. "I love you, Yugi. And don't you forget that."

"I won't. And mom?"

"Yes?"

"I love you too."

Miyuki smiled as her son got off her bed. "Good night, sweety. I'll see you in the morning."

Yugi nodded and left the room with a soft 'click'.

After he was gone, Miyuki softly whispered as she looked over to her book case. "What on earth are you planning, Chokichi? Will you use force if we don't want to go back with you?" She felt tears sprang to her eyes as she looked at her wedding picture again.

XxxxX

With his head full of information, Yugi took a quick shower and got dress for bed. He felt like his head was about to explode. His father was really like that, abusive and greedy? He never even thought that his father could be like that. In the earlier days, he always pictured his father as a nice, gentle man on a long business trip. But this new news, just ruined his whole image. He was glad that he now knew the truth, but, sad. His mother went through so much while pregnant with him.

"I can't believe all of this." He whispered.

Before he threw his clothes from today in the hamper, he checked all of the pockets, pulling out his wallet, a few notes from today, and his phone. … His phone.

After dropping his clothes into the basket, he set all of his stuff on his desk in his room and flipped his phone opened to find an unread text message. He clicked opened and read the message from his girlfriend that was sent almost half an hour ago.

_Hey, just wanted to let you know I got home okay. :p I can't wait for our date tomorrow! ^_^ Love you, T_

Yugi smiled and clicked the 'reply' button and typed in, '_Hey, sorry bout the late reply, but I'm glad you got home safely. And me too. Meet you there at 1. Good night, Tea. I love you. -Y _He then pushed 'sent' and closed his phone and set it on his desk.

Just as he was about to get in bed, a soft knock sounded at his door followed by the person opening it. A blur of color ran inside and straight for his bed, but not before crashing into his owner.

"I-Iggi." Yugi caught his puppy. "Hey boy, I was wondering where you were." Then he was covered in doggy drool.

"Getting ready for bed?" Atem asked and walked into the room.

Yugi nodded. "Yeah, I feel exhausted..." He put his dog onto the bed before sitting on the edge with his shoulders hunched over a bit. Iggi tilted his head and laid his head on Yugi's lap.

Atem nodded and crossed the room and sat down on the bed next to his brother. It was quiet for a minute before he started up the conversation, "So, how are you with the news about your father?" He said it as gently as he could.

Yugi shrugged. "I …. I just can't believe he did all of that."

"I know. Jii-chan told me the story. I would never have guessed. " Atem felt a bit awkward talking about a man he never meet before.

"I know. And here I thought my dad was cool and everything. I guess not all dad's are cool." He sighed. The he looked at Atem. "What am I going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, apparently, mom said that my dad is wanting to take me and her back with him to where ever he lives now. I don't want to go! Mom says she'll handle everything, but what happens if that doesn't work? What happens it I'll be forced to leave?"

Atem frowned and saw a look of fear pass through his hikari's eyes. Then, he pulled his brother into a hug. "Nothing's going to happen, Yugi. I won't let things happen. And I especially won't let him take you."

Yugi hugged him back and rested his head on Atem's shoulder, feeling like a little kid. "I finally have friends and like my life. I'm almost about to graduate high school and I'm almost eighteen. I don't want all of that taken away from me."

Iggi, feeling the moment, laid down beside the two, watching them with sad orbs.

"I know." The older of the two said. "Just remember, Yugi, Me and Jii-chan and all of our friends will be here for you. If your father wants a fight, then he'll have to get through all of us. If he doesn't, and he's just staying here to visit, that that will be fine."

Yugi shook his head. "I hope that's the reason why he's here."

The two started to talk about Yugi's father. Basically just talking about what information one knew and the other didn't. Getting the whole story from different sides. (Yugi would get info. From how Jii-Chan would explain it, and Atem would get info about the missing details from the mom. Yugi would explain it to Atem and vice versa. Just clearing it up :P )

Before they knew it, both boys fell asleep in Yugi's room. Yugi was curled up into a ball against Atem and Atem was stretched out on the bed asleep. (Not yaoi -.- Brothers!) Iggi, noticing how they fell asleep, rolled his doggie eyes and lightly jumped up onto Atem's chest where he laid down and fell asleep.

XxxxX

Till next time.

Hope that wasn't too bad... a lot of explaining, and I don't think I did that good of a job. **Shruggs** Just tell me how you like it!

Now, at the last part, I don't want to make it look like yaoi. I was thinking more like brothers or like, in a way, protector guarding his Light. In a way... if that makes sense... :p Don't like it, well... eh.

Hope you enjoyed it and cleared some things up with Chokichi (And I can finally spell his name!)

Reviews:

**Couldn'tThinkOfaName**: And that's okay. I'm just glad that you read it, lol. But no worries, ^^ And thank you. I like to have really good names for my chapters... and one of the title names has to have the actual title of the story in it! (I don't know if you noticed, but in His Decision I did that too ^^) And, woooooooooooooooooooh! Have fun watching them! I like to watch them in the Japanese version better. One, it sounds better (Being a fangirl right here, but their voices are SEXY!) and when they talk, they ain't complete idiots and sounding like a three year old understand it (like in the English version it does. x.x drives me MAD!) And actually, I never thought about that thought. o.o But, it's too late now to consider it. Lol... maybe ;) And thanks for reading! I'm glad (overly ecstatic) that you're enjoying it! XD Makes me wanna keep writing, lol .


	8. Small Talk Turns into Big Plans!

Oh, my Pickles... she's here... she escaped!-**Is hiding in a closet, locked from ths inside and huddles in the corner with her laptop.- **

Lisa: Oh hikari, come out come out, where ever you are! Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to give you a hug for sending me to OBIDIENCE SCHOOL!-**Brings out chainsaw and winds it up. - **

.. She's going to kill me! Help! .

Lisa: ….. Do you really think a closet cam help you now?

o.o

Lisa: -evily laughs and knocks on the door- Come on out, I won't hurt you! 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

**Chapter Seven:**

"This is all just bull shit." He muttered to himself as he got to his hotel room and closed and locked the door behind him. He loosened his tie around his neck and took his jacket off, throwing it on to the couch. "But, I shouldn't really be saying anything. I remembered what happened seventeen years ago, no doubt they do to. This is will be easier said then done, getting them to come back with me." He took his shoes and socks off and left them in the middle of the suite. Then, he started to make his way towards the bathroom to take a quick shower and go to bed.

Chokichi let out a frustrated sigh. In the bathroom, he turned the water to hot and stripped down to take a shower. As he squeezed some of the hotels shampoo in his hand, he started to let his mind wonder. It was always when he was taking a shower, he was relaxed and could think with ease.

'_First things first, I will need to talk to my son. I need to get him to be on my side. Things will be easier if I don't have to force him to do things …' _He grinned as he thought of all the ways he could convince Yugi to come with him to either the kind way, or threatening him with hurting someone. '_Though, I need to figure our what his personality is like. I know nothing about that.'_ He started to rub the soap in his hair.

'_Hm … The best way to get to know someone is to talk to them. And if I want to do that, I'll need to get Yugi away from his house. I'll have to be safe on this. Yugi will need to come alone. If my father or Miyuki find out, he won't be able to come... This could get tricky.' _

After finishing his shower and getting dressed, he walked over to the bed. He just sat there, thinking this through. '_If I do manage to talk to him, I will know what his personality is like and be able to black mail it. ((_Manipulate?_)) Then I can figure out a strategy for him to come . . .' _He kept thinking. He went far and long, thinking everything through and with many different outcomes. If one thing happened, he thought of what he would do and think of something to go with it. He didn't like surprises nor did he liked to be shocked with anything.

The more he thought about things, the more he became confident things were going to work.

After about an hour had passed by, he turned the lights off and tried to fall asleep. Staring at the bland ceiling, he smiled. "Now, I just have to put my plans to action. Tomorrow, I will talk to him."

XxxxX

Early morning sunlight filled the small bedroom, lighting the room up from it's darkened state. Slowly, Yugi blinked his amethyst colored eyes multiple times as the light blinded him. Before even giving it a thought, the teen buried his head with what he thought was his pillow when really it was someone's arm.

With the movement, woke the other person up who shook his head and slowly shook his head. "Wha-?" Atem groggily mumbled and raised his head a bit. He smiled. "Yugi," he groaned, seeing his brother using his arm to shield his eyes from the sun.

"Hmm?" Yugi said without any words being involved. More or less, the younger one was still asleep and didn't want to wake up just yet.

"Can I have my arm back?" He yawned. He looked around the room and noticed where he was. Not in his bedroom, that's for sure. '_I guess I forgot to go to my own room last night.' _He thought, but didn't really care. Only thing that did matter was staying with Yugi in case he needed someone.

Yugi moved his head a bit to the side but didn't let the arm go. In a sleepy voice, he answered, "No ..."

Atem sighed and rolled his eyes. He started to sit up, stretching his stiff back from sleeping in one position without moving. As he was getting up, Iggi, who was just woke up by the movement, huffed at Atem with an annoyed look and got to his paws, still being on the humans chest.

"Glad you got a good sleep," Atem muttered to the dog who jumped up off of him and went over to his owner and curled up against his side and fell asleep. "Now, I need to find a way of getting my arm away," He thought aloud and curiously looked at his Light who went right back to sleep. Many thoughts popped into his brain as a plan, but only one of them sounded like fun.

In a loud, panicked voice, Atem announced, "Oh, my Ra. Yugi, get up! We're going to be late for school!"

Just like that, Yugi's eyes sprang wide opened and he sat up so fast, he miraculously fell off the bed and landed in a pile. A blanket that was on the end of the bed, unfolded, fell along with the teen and landed on top of him, covering him from view.

Iggi raised his head, still with an annoyed expression. He looked from his owner on the floor to a laughing Atem then back to his owner before laying his head back on his paws and letting out a loud yawn.

"Aah!" Yugi yelped as he struggled to get to his feet. It would have taken less time if the blanket didn't decide to tangle itself with the poor teen. "Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" He finally managed to untangle himself and threw the blanket at his bed, which landed on the dog. Just as he was about to run over to his closet to get dressed, he stopped. And looked over to his bed. And glared.

Atem was rubbing his eyes while laughing. "I didn't … think you … could move so fast!" He managed to say in between laughs. He was wide awake and just couldn't help but laugh.

Yugi frowned. Not only was he upset that he was woken up from a pretty good dream, one involving a room filled with new games that had never been played with, he just realized what today was.

"Why'd you wake me up so early on a Saturday?" He whined, looking around him to find something to throw. Lucky for his brother, there was nothing light and soft. Only a random textbook, but that would have hurt.

Atem finally managed to stop laughing and sat up straight. With a smile on his face, he shrugged. "I wanted my arm back." Yugi titled his head to the side, confused. "You were using my arm to cover your eyes." He chuckled as he explained it.

A light blush made itself known on Yugi's cheeks. "Well … It's not my fault!" He walked back over to the bed and sat down in a huff. "Meanie," He mumbled under his breath as he laid back. He was thinking about going back to sleep, try getting a few more hours of it before starting his day, when Atem looked over at him.

"What was that, aibou?" He asked with a raised eyebrow and an amused expression.

Yugi looked at his darker half. "Uh … Nothing?"

"Right, and you expect me to believe that?" With a smirk, Atem tackled his brother into a play fight. Yugi, having no choice, fought back.

As they wrestled, which started to take on action, that they fell onto the floor, Atem asked again, "What did you say?"

"N-nothing!" Yugi laughed, trying to turn the tables. Yes, he was weaker than his brother, but it was still fun to try to be the one to ((Not trying to make it seem... that way)) make it to the top and look down instead of up. Being how he was, Atem always had ease pinning Yugi down. But not this time. This time, Yugi fought back with new-found strength.

"Uh huh. Come on, what did you say?" They rolled around, trying to pin the other down, but neither not exceeding.

Iggi wiggled till his head was out from under the blanket. He was too lazy and didn't get up. "Arf!" He barked, watching the two play fight. His tail was wagging and he barked again.

After hitting the wall from their rolling, Yugi managed to make it on top. "Nothing!" He managed to say only for Atem to surprise attack him and brought him back to the ground. "Eep!" They kept tackling each other, neither one giving up. It was only until a laugh stopped them.

"Oh, you boys." Their mom stood in the doorway with a basket full of dirty towels sitting on her hit. She was laughing at her two sons. "You must fight each other at a quarter till nine in the morning?"

Seeing the door opened, Iggi got to his paws, stretched, and jumped off the bed. He walked towards the door and then disappeared from sight.

Atem managed to hold Yugi in a loose head-lock and smiled up at their mom. "Good morning, mom."

"'Morning mom." Yugi mumbled, admitting defeat and slumped a bit to show it. Relaxing his posture, he only gave Atem the minute of victory before he attacked him one last time and won. Happily, he managed to (gently) push his other on to his back, and sat on top of him.

"Hey! That's cheating!" Atem whined from the floor. He tried to get up, but Yugi wouldn't let him.

"You can't cheat in play-wrestling," Yugi smiled in victory before looking up. "Did you need something mom?"

"Oh, no." She lightly laughed. "Was just downstairs doing some laundry and heard some noises. Was wondering what all of the commotion was about and came to investigate." She smiled and rolled her eyes. "I wasn't expecting this to be going on."

After trying to escape, Atem finally just relaxed and crossed his arms behind his head. Might as well get comfortable. "What did you expect to find?" He asked, watching their mom.

"Not this. Something more like two normal teenagers still _asleep _instead of them_ being_ up so early on a Saturday morning." She exaggerated. She rolled her eyes and smiled. "Well, I'll be downstairs doing laundry." She turned around and walked away.

Yugi watched her go and forgot all about who he was sitting on. That he managed to push him off and sat up. "Eep!" Yugi yelped and fell onto his back just as Atem sat straight up and smiled at him.

"Let's just say, I win." He said in his deep voice. He stood up and held a hand down to help his Light get to his feet.

Yugi gladly took the hand and was pulled up. "It's not over!" He playfully glared and smiled.

"Sure it isn't." Atem rolled his eyes and stretched his arms in the air with a yawn.

Watching his other yawn, caused him to yawn to. "Well, no point in going back to sleep." Yugi said with a sad note in his voice as he looked over to his bed that was slightly messy.

Atem rolled his eyes as he started to walk towards the door. "Do you want the bathroom first?" Yugi shook his head. "Good. I'll take it first."

"Just don't use up all the hot water like you did last weekend!" Yugi yelled after him. Taking cold showers sucked. Not only were they cold, he couldn't relax like he could with hot, or even warm water.

Yugi then just stood in his room, wondering what he should do right now. His date didn't start till two, and it was just hitting nine. What to do for five hours? '_Well, I can make my bed...' _He thought. He looked over to it and stayed where he was. '_Or … I can go eat breakfast.' _Without even thinking about it, he chose the second option.

XxxxX

Breakfast and showers were all done and over with and it was barely nine forty-five. Yugi sat on the couch with nothing to do. He let out a big sigh.

"What's wrong, Yugi?" Grandpa then came into the living room. He was carrying a small box for the shop and stopped to look around the room to make sure no other boxes didn't just randomly appear.

"Eh, just bored, Jii-chan." Yugi shrugged and watched his grandfather nod his head. He stood up from the comfortable cushions and walked over to the elderly man. "Do you need any help in the shop today? Well, before two."

Grandpa was finished with his search and thought about it. "Well, not necessary. All of the new shipments are in and unpacked for once. But, if you are bored, I can look for something for you to do." He smiled.

Yugi nodded. "Sure, okay."

As the two started to go towards the shop, the phone rang. Since they were passing by it, Yugi answered.

"Hello, Mutou residence. This is Yugi speaking." He answered in his polite tone. He watched as Grandpa watched out into the game shop.

"_Ah, Yugi, just the one I was wanting to speak to." _A voice said on the other end.

Yugi frowned. The voice sounded slightly familiar, but not one he heard of so much. "Who is this?" He asked, not wanting to be rude.

There was a soft chuckle. "_Sorry, but this is Chokichi Mutou. We met for a very brief time yesterday. I am your father."_

Yugi froze. This was unexpected. "Oh..." was all he said. The story his mom told him yesterday night started to swarm his head. Just as he was thinking that, Iggi came trotting out of the kitchen. When he saw his owner, he gave a big doggy grin and cam over to him and sat down at his feet.

"_Yes. Well, I called because I wanted to talk with you. We never got a chance yesterday, if you remember and I was wanting to get to know you better." _Chokichi said, sounding sincere and nice. Nothing at all like how Miyuki explained him.

"Well, I don't know." Yugi bit the inside of his cheek.

"_Oh come on. It should be fun. We can go to some cafe and talk over coffee. Or, well you can have whatever you like. I don't really know if you like coffee or not." _He corrected himself. "_You can pick the place."_

"I'm kind of busy today."

"_It won't take that long. A mere hour or so. C'mon, I really want to get to know my son. I haven't seen you since you were born and I'd very much like it if I came to know you better."_

Yugi started to weighed his options. He can stay here and help Grandpa out and not know what his father is like in person or if he's changed in those seventeen years. Or, he can go and talk with his father and get some information out of him.

From Yugi's quietness, the man on the other line cleared his throat and sounded uncomfortable. "_Well, maybe we can do this some other time. Like you said, you were busy; I don't want to mess that up for you."_

The guilt trip. If you knew Yugi, you would know it always worked on him. He was a sucker for them. "Well, I'm not that busy today. Though I have to be somewhere at two." He said.

"_Great! Well, you pick the place. I haven't been here in for so long, I don't know what's good or not." _Yugi's father sounded happy and excited that Yugi couldn't compare him to the one in the story.

He thought for a minute. '_I don't really want to go alone and be alone with him...' _He thought. '_I could take Atem... but, then if I did, he would probably do something bad... Mom and Jii-chan are a __definite no. Who can I take?' _Just as he thought that, he looked down towards his feet and smiled. Iggi was scratching his ear with his back foot. '_Perfect.'_

"Well, there's this really cool cafe a few blocks from my house." Yugi said into the phone. "It's really nice and everything. Me and my friends always go there. They even have an outdoor patio."

"_Sounds great! We can always get a small booth inside if it's too loud or something."_

"Well, there might be a problem with that." Yugi muttered.

"_A problem? Like what?" _The man asked, slightly confused.

"Well, you can't take a dog inside. You have to stay outside."

There was no reply at first that Yugi thought Chokichi had hung up on him. But before he could worry to much, the other voice said, "_A dog?"_

Yugi nodded even though they were over the phone. He started to twirl the phone's cord with his finger, out of nervous-ment. "Yeah. I have to take my dog out for a um... walk. On the weekends, he likes morning walks. That isn't a problem, is it?" He half lied.

"_N-not at all. I like dogs... Well. I'll see you at the cafe in fifteen minutes. Till then." _Chokichi said in a rush and hung up the phone before Yugi could even say 'okay.'

After hanging the phone up, Yugi looked back down to his dog who looked up at him. "I am so glad I have you, boy." He said and bent down to scratch Iggi's ear.

"Arf!"

"But, c'mon, lets go get your leash on; we're going for a walk." He stood back up and before going over to the closet where he kept the leash, he called out, "I'm going on a walk with Iggi! I'll be back soon!" He waited for the okay sign. When he heard it from his mom, he went over to the closet, got the leash and clipped it on his puppy.

When the two made it in the shop, grandpa was busy with a sale so Yugi waited until the people were gone before telling him grandpa that he was going out. He didn't have a problem with it so away Yugi went with his dog.

XxxxX

All the way to the cafe, Yugi couldn't help but think what was going to happen. Was his father going to be abusive like how he was with his mom? Or had enough time past that his father changed? Hopefully, it was the second option. But, Yugi still didn't know what to think. He was rather nervous about meeting his father without the help of Grandpa, his mom, or even Atem. He only met him once before, and then, he barely said anything. Now, it was going to just be them two without any interruptions.

Iggi stayed by Yugi's side as he enjoyed being able to stretch his legs and sniff around. Yugi watched him with a smile.

All to soon, the two came to the cafe. Yugi looked down at his watch and realized he was five minutes late. He shrugged, not like it really mattered right? If it was ten or twenty minutes, then that would have been a problem. But, it was only five.

He looked around, trying to spot his father when someone called out to him. "Yugi," He looked over and saw the man sitting at a table, casual sitting there like he was enjoying the weather. He was dressed in another suit, black, again.

Yugi took a deep breath and looked down at his dog who looked up. "This is it." He whispered before gathering his courage and walked over to the table.

Chokichi stood up. When Yugi arrived, looking awkward and a bit nervous, he held out his hand in greeting. Yugi looked at it, confused by the gesture, before recovering and taking his hand. His hand was warm and big. Also a bit rough, since it was a man's hand and not a woman.

"Good morning, Yugi." Chokichi said with a friendly smile as they both sat down.

Yugi sat on the chair opposite of his and let Iggi's leash perch on the chair's handle. Not like his dog was going to run away or anything. "Good morning, … dad." The word felt foreign on his tongue but he didn't comment on it. He just looked down at the wooden table and didn't know how to start the conversation.

Thankfully, his father did. "Man, it certainly is different, seeing you all grown up." He said as Yugi looked up. "Last I saw you you were an infant. But now, you are all grown up. And I can see you took my mothers side with your tallness." He added.

"My grandmother?" Yugi asked in which his father nodded. "Huh, I wouldn't know; I've never met her before." He didn't sound bitter or anything, just a fact that needed to be out.

A waitress came by and took Yugi's order. Since Chokichi already had his drink, an Ice Tea, Yugi ordered a Dr. Pepper and some water for his dog. Soon, the waitress disappeared and came back with their order.

As Yugi sipped his drink, Chokichi cleared his throat, "Well, maybe you can meet her."

Yugi shook his head. "Nah, there's no way too. That, and no one knows where she lives. Jii-chan lost contact with her several years ago."

A chuckled erupted from the older man. "My father may not know where she lives, but I do. She lives about an hour from where I do."

Yugi looked at his curiously. "Really? So where do you live right now?"

"I live in Breaksville, Texas. (1) In between Round Rock and Waco." He added when Yugi titled his head. "It's a small town with a population of ten thousand."

"Oh, not a lot of people live there," he observed, thinking how Domino was probably doubled, or even tripled that amount. "Have you been living there ever since you um … Left?"

"Yes I have. It's nice and quiet. The jobs there ore good and I heard that the schools are nice. People there are friendly and very easy to get along. And finding your way around the town is rather simple. It took me less than a week to memorize where everything was."

"Sounds nice." Yugi simply said, taking a sip of his drink. Why his dad talked about that was beyond him.

Chokichi took a sip of his tea before saying, "It is." It was quiet for a moment before he asked, "So, you're in twelfth grade, right?" Yugi nodded. "You're kind of young to be in twelfth grade, aren't you?"

He shook his head. "I'll be turning eighteen in June. About two and a half months from now."

"Ah, eighteen. A fun year, if I may say so myself." He smiled. "So, do you have any plans for your birthday?"

"Uh, not really. My friends will probably throw a big party for me and Atem." Yugi smiled, thinking of last year how his friends had thrown him a party. It was really just a small get-together with cake and presents.

"And, is Atem your friend?" Chokichi asked, the name seeming familiar but he just couldn't find a face for the name. He could of sworn someone was talking about this Atem yesterday.

Yugi frowned. Grandpa and mom told him to, if anybody asked, to say that Atem was his brother. But, wouldn't his father disagree with it? Since he was there when Miyuki gave birth to only one child. He would know he was lying if he said such thing. Well, lying or not, Yugi thought of it as the truth that he and Atem were brothers.

"Uh, Atem is my twin brother." Yugi bit the inside of his cheek. "Remember? When mom gave birth, she gave birth to twins." He sort of winced when he saw his father tense and his hand go down to his lap, but not before seeing him clench it.

"Ah, yes," the older man said in a tight voice, like he was forcing it to come out, "How could I have forgotten?" He gave a fake smile before changing the subject. "So, how has, um … school been treating you?"

Yugi shrugged. "Okay I guess. School's school."

"Don't really like it all that much?"

"It's okay. I guess the only best part about it is seeing my friends. Other than that, it's boring."

"What kind of grades do you make?" A simple and curious enough question.

"All A's and sometimes a B." Yugi said, getting kind of embarrassed. It was like he was bragging, which, he didn't like to do or didn't do. "Very rarely do I get a C, and if I do, it's always in Math. I suck at it."

Chokichi nodded. "Back in school, that was my worst subject too. Though, you are making better grades than I did. I was ever lucky to get a B. My grades for that subject were always C's. I never moved from that. And for my other subjects, I was pretty good at. I got mostly B's, sometimes A's, but like your B's, they were my A's."

Yugi did a half smiled. '_At least he wasn't a nerd.'_ "What about mom? Was she like … smart in school?"

With an eyebrow raised, he chuckled. "Smart? Well, that doesn't even cover her. She was a genius, that was one of the reasons why I fell for her. She always knew what she was talking about and was a great tutor."

Hearing his laugh, that sounded so natural, Yugi slightly loosened up. Maybe, maybe his father really did change in all of those years. He didn't seem so bad.

The two continued to talk for a while. They talked a lot about school and how Yugi was doing and what it was like being in high school. Just the normal stuff that you would hear everyday. Like when you come home from school and your mother and father asked, 'So, how was school?' Only, right now, it was like, 'So, how was it been all through your years of school?' It wasn't until Chokichi asked an odd question.

"Is there any bullies at my school?" Yugi repeated his fathers question. He swallowed the soda in his mouth before feeling his mouth dry up. "Well, y-yeah, it's school. There's bound to be at least one, right?"

Chokichi nodded. "Yes, but I was just curious." He gave a mere shrug like it was just a normal question. He stirred his tea with a spoon and watched the water making a mini whirlpool before looking up to find his son looking at his own drink. But instead of watching his son watch his drink, his eyes moved to his cheek where the skin was fading from purple to yellow, showing that it was healing. "Do you get picked on a lot by them? Bullies, I mean."

Yugi tensed for a second before meeting his eyes. Though, he didn't meet his eyes full on. He noticed his father starring at his cheek. "If you're talking about the bruise on my cheek, then no. I-I ran into a pole on my way home from school. I tend to be very clumsy and don't pay attention." He said it with such ease and conviction that he almost believed himself. Huh, where was this when he needed it a few days ago?

"Uh huh." The other man had to tear his eyes from the yellowing bruise and met his son's amethyst eyes. He let the subject drop and switched the topic so Yugi could talk about his friends. Like, what they are like, how'd they become friends, that sort of things. He wanted to seem as interested as possible and not the kind of person who was gathering information, just in case.

For the next several minutes, Yugi described his friends. He found it sort of weird, but passed that thought away. His father was just curious on how he made friends. All fathers were, right? Grandpa was back when Yugi was growing up. He always got so proud and excited, even if the friends didn't last as long as they both had hoped. He first described Tea and how they had been friends since elementary school and that they were now boyfriend and girlfriend. Then he slowly described Joey and Tristan, then Ryou and so on. His father listened with an interested look, that it helped Yugi continue to talk.

All throughout the conversation, Iggi had laid down in the shade of his owners chair. He would watch some people walk by for a long time and every so often, glance up at his best friend. Then, he would stare at the other man with narrow eyes, like he didn't trust him. Just, something about the person, looking so much like his owner, gave him the feeling like something bad was going to happen.

Chokichi made mental notes on the people his son were talking about. Especially his girlfriend and this, _Joey _character; they seemed to be the closest to him.

"We do a lot of stuff together," Yugi said, then paused and frowned. "No, scratch that. We do everything together. When something bad happens, everyone else is like alerted immediately. It's a chain reaction." He smiled. "They're the best-est friends anyone could ever have."

The father smiled. "I bet they are. Though, I bet you can still be friends after everything settles down. It's going to be very long distance, but with the kind of bond you have with them, I can see it work."

Suddenly, Yugi stopped sipping from his drink and coughed, covering his mouth with a napkin just in time before any of the liquid could spill from his mouth. He managed to stop coughing long enough to say, "What are you talking about? After _what _settles down?"

"Did your mom not tell you last night?" Chokichi gave him that fake startled look, making it look real and believable. "You and Miyuki are moving back with me to Texas."

Yugi's eyes widen. His mouth slightly dropped opened in disbelief. "What?" He jumped to his feet, almost knocking his and his fathers drink over. The chair behind his scooted back some, to where he couldn't touch it with the back of his legs. Iggi sprang to his paws, worried. "Moving? I'm not moving!"

Chokichi calmly watched his son, all the while sitting at ease as the scene playing out in front of him. Some bystanders looked over curiously, but continued on their way, looking bored. He let his son continue, seeing how he wasn't finished yet.

"I'm not going anywhere with you! My life is here, not in, what, _Texas_? You can't just come here and bring me and my mom back with you, thinking it's fine. Why would I go with you anyways? This is the first time I've seen you since what, forever? I can't believe you dared to call me,bring me here acting like you wanted to get to know me and try being nice just so you can tell me this 'news'." He grabbed his dogs leash. "Just so you know, I'm not going anywhere with you. My mom told me everything about you. Why would I want to live with an abusive man?"

Just before he could turn and walk away, his father just chuckled. "I don't think you are going to have much of a choice, Yugi. You _are _going to be leaving with me whether or not you want to."

Yugi glared at the man, thinking that he was not over reacting and this was exactly how he should be feeling. "We shall see about it." With Iggi by his side, he gave the formal greeting (goodbye thing) to his father. "If you will excuse me, I have to get home so I can get ready for my date today." Without waiting for a reply, he turned around and quickly left the cafe as fast as he could without breaking into a run.

XxxxX

Till next time! ^^

Dudes and dudettes... this chapter was hard to write. I didn't know how to do it... :/ But, I hope this is okay for you... I don't think the end was done right... But, let y'all be the judges on that! XD

Oh, Happy Fourth of July, everyone! ^^ Have fun watching, or doing, the fireworks! Be safe though, I know how certain people likes to play with them... I won't say names -cough- Lisa -cough- But, have fun! ^^

Just so you know, that isn't a real place. I made it up... ^^

Reviews:

**Couldn'tThinkOfaName: ^**^ The longer reviews, the happier I am. And yes, I do know what you men about the train of thought. I do that so much, it ain't even funny. ^^ And awwww, that's. Like, I don't mean to be like grrr to the yaoi fans.. but yeah... what you said really is what I say (A lot of the writers really can and do write beautifully...) And, yeah, give me a bad review, heh, so? I have a freedom of speech! (The constitution hell yeah!) I do realize y'alls appreciation, and it makes me the more happier to write. And in truth, every time I read your reviews, I always get so much more happier and squeal-y and excited (and many more words I don't know how to explain. Lol) I love when you review whether its a great review or criticism (Which I appreciate a whoole lot!) Thank you!

And the fathers name, which took me forever to memorize and spell correctly, which drove me up the wall, is Chokichi. ^^ I really don't know how I memorized it... but how you are spelling it, that's how I was too. -**guilty laugh**- Man... I write a lot... I just realized that. So, a long reply for a long review!

lam glad I make you special. ^^ I just feel like a total lazy bum if I don't reply back and I when I do, I have fun doing it... but sometimes I feel like I talk to much XD

Thanks for reading and the long review! They always make me smile!

And... sending your yami to that kind of school... you don't want to know. It took a lot of patience. -thinks of all the rope and duct tape used**- **

**AnzuFan: **True true. Just making sure people realize its brotherly love. Thank Ra y'all don't think of yaoi! XD And I'm really happy you like it a lot. ^^ And as you have said, it's actually has an ordinary plot. o.o But, I don't really know if it'll be like that for much longer ^^ Things will get veeeeery interesting soon ^^ (In a way, it could still be ordinary. o.o) I try and update as soon as I can, but it usually takes about a week. But, thanks for reading!


	9. The Date

Lisa: Heh, I decided not to kill her... -.- But, she's not here at the moment. She's... in a better place right now, so I'll be talkin'. :) ((Except for the reviews. I don't know how, but she always does them, even when she ain't here. It's so weird. o.o )

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

**Chapter Eight:**

'I can't believe him! Here he comes all the way to Japan from Texas, a fourteen hour flight, and bombards me by telling me he's forcing me and mom to move with him? I won't stand for that! I won't be going anywhere, no matter what he says!' Yugi thought angrily. He was almost back at the game shop from his 'walk' with Iggi. And all the way home, he kept replaying the conversation with his dad in his head.

Iggi kept glancing up every few steps, sensing his partners anger. He would whine a bit, but when it seemed like Yugi wasn't paying attention, he would stop and sigh. Then he would just keep walking without stopping to sniff anything. As much as his owner wanted to get home, so did he. Maybe then Yugi would calm down.

They turned the corner and the game shop was in sight. Just seeing that shop made Yugi smile. He's lived there for all of his life. And that wouldn't change until he gets married and moves away. That or when he goes to college, which he was wanting to be an architect like his grandpa was (is?). But, that was still many months from now. And even when he does move, he knew he was going to be back. The game shop was grandpa's dream and when he would pass, he would need someone to look after it. Yugi was already wanting too, since it is one, a game shop, and two, has many childhood memories in it.

"I still can't believe this!" He mumbled and the smile was wiped off of his face. "I live here and will always live here! Well, kind of." He shook his head and got closer to the shop.

Iggi whined and this time, Yugi noticed. He looked down and gave an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, that I keep neglecting you. It's just, so much is going on, though it doesn't really seem like it." he sighed and looked back up. He ran a hand through his star-shaped hair as he closed his thought bubble for now. "Well, I'll think about this later. Right now, I am going to need to concentrate on what's going on for today. Knowing if i act like how i am during my date, Tea will notice and then questions will start up." He knew when Tea started her questioning, she was just concern and wanting to help him out. In which he was always thankful for. But right now, he didn't know how he was going to explain it to his friends, even if there wasn't much to talk about.

Yugi and Iggi reached the shop and entered it. There, he was swarmed by fans who came out of nowhere.

"Aah!" Yugi yelped.

"Ohmigod! It's you, it's Yugi Mutou! The King of Games! Can I have your autograph?" A little girl with pigtails asked, her face beaming with excitement. She looked no older than eleven. In her hands, she held a duel monsters card and a pen.

Next to the little girl was two boys, each looking like they just came from a baseball game, wearing red and white uniforms and baseball hats on their heads. They were also beaming with excitement and in their hands had cards and pens.

"Please? They both said with puppy-dog eyes. They looked just a bit younger then the girl.

There was at least two or three more kids swarming poor Yugi, each with either a card or paper and wanting the same. One of the kids even had a camera.

Yugi looked up and saw Grandpa with another adult, watching the teen being swarmed. They just stood there, laughing and talking.

Taking a deep breath, and letting his dog's leash go, he forced on a smile and started signing cards and taking pictures. This was the only thing being King of Games he didn't like about. Being made center of attention and being popular, wasn't really his thing. When Atem had come back with his new and own body, Yugi tried to pass the title on to him, but Atem declined it. Why? Because of the Ceremonial battle. Yugi won the title because he beat Atem, so now he was stuck with it.

About fifteen minutes later with answering a lot of questions, Yugi was finally able to make his way to the house.

While he was signing, more kids started to show up out of nowhere. He could of sworn someone called someone else and told them that Yugi Mutou was at his home signing autographs, and in which that kid told someone and then in became a chain reaction. So The older man just chuckled and said nothing.

XxxxX

"I'm home!" Yugi announced after he closed the door. He slipped his shoes off and grabbed a hold of Iggi's leash and took it off, then hanging it in the closet. His dog immediately went to the kitchen to drink some water as Yugi poked his head into the living room then the kitchen, expecting someone. When he didn't find anyone, he decided to go upstairs.

"Mom? Atem?" He called as he made it up the steps. His mothers room was opened and a light shone out of it. As for Atem's room, it was left opened and it was dark.

"I'm in here, honey," Miyuki's cheery voice sounded from her room. When Yugi entered, he found her sitting on her bed fiddling with her laptop. She looked up and smiled.

"Whatcha doing?" He asked and walked over to her. He peaked over her shoulder then wrinkled his nose. She was doing work.

"Just working from home." She shrugged and looked back at her laptop. "I just don't want to get left behind and have to do a lot more when I go back."

Yugi nodded. "Sounds like fun," he sarcastically said and smiled. His mom rolled her blue eyes. "Have you seen Atem?"

Without looking up from her computer as her fingers started typing away at the keys, she nodded her head. "He went out to hang with Tristan and Joey. He knew you were going to be on your date, so he told me to give you this piece of paper." She paused her typing and reached into her pocket of her jeans. She pulled out a small folded piece of paper and handed it to him.

Yugi took it and curiously opened the parchment. He read the six worded sentence and blushed furiously. He then groaned and crushed the paper in his hand as it turned into a fist. "Oh. That butt head!" He said.

Miyuki tilted her head as she watched her son. "What did he write?" Knowing better, she didn't read the paper. Not because it was her business, but because when her other son handed her the paper, he was trying to hold a straight face. 'Must be some kind of joke,' she thought.

"Nothing," Yugi kissed his mom's cheek before he grumpily walked out of the room. But as he turned the corner of the room, Miyuki caught a smile displayed on her son's face.

XxxxX

When Yugi reached his room, he took out his cell phone and went to his contacts. From there, he searched until he found his brothers name and clicks the button to send a text message. There he wrote, 'Really? What do you think we'll be doing? . Meanie head!' He sent 'send' and pocketed his phone as he walked over to his desk and grabbed his wallet from where he forgot it.

As he checked his wallet to make sure he had enough money for the popcorn and drinks, since Tea was going to buy the ticket, he felt a vibration in his pocket.

He slipped his wallet in his back pocket and grabbed his phone. He smiled when he flipped it opened. "'Hey, not my fault. I want a good summary of the movie! And if your busy making out the whole movie, how will i know what it's about? Oh, and Joey says to save him some popcorn while you're at it.'" He read aloud.

He pushed 'Reply' as he made sure he had everything with him and exited the room. Upon typing his message, it said, 'Hey! We will be watching it! ...Maybe. and tell him we might. ^^'

Yugi walked downstairs after calling a farewell to his mother and pushing 'send' again. He checked his watch and decided to be early to the theater so he left now.

XxxxX

"Bye, Jii-chan!" He called as he left the game shop. His grandfather was busy with a different customer so he just smiled and waved. Once he exited the shop, he took a left and made his way pass people and on towards the movie theater.

Whatever happened this morning, he had to make sure he wasn't going to be think about it, so he made sure he stopped thinking about it earlier. But, that didn't really work. As he was walking towards the theater, his mind went wondering. And once it did that, there was no stopping it.

'_Man, what am I going to do? Why didn't I tell mom about meeting with dad?' _He thought. Then he answered himself, '_Because if i did, then she would have gotten mad that i met up with him without telling her.' 'But, it's not my fault. I needed to see what he was like myself. Mom can't get that mad because of it.'_

Having an argument in his head, he lost track of time. And before he knew it, the theater came into sight, and with that building, a lonely girl leaning against a pole, waiting for her boyfriend to come.

When Tea caught sight of Yugi, she grinned. "Yugi!" She called over and waved with her arm. She straightened her back and grabbing her bag that she left on the ground, walked over to him and embraced him with a tight hug.

"Hey, Tea," Yugi greeted, a bit surprised that he was out of it. He hugged her back and tried to clear his mind. When they pulled apart, tea leaned in and pecked her boyfriend on the lips.

"What took you so long? I was getting worried." She said as she grabbed his hand and together they started to go towards the enterence of the theater. "You're usually the first one to arrive when we meet each other for dates."

Yugi shrugged like it was no big deal and that he wasn't trying to hide anything. "Just had to do something this morning. But, did you buy the tickets?" He smiled, happy that he didn't have to fake this one.

Tea nodded and reached into her purse on her shoulder. She brought out two tickets for the movie Pirates of the Caribbean Four. "Luckily, they weren't sold out. The opposite, to be exact." Yugi titled his head as they entered the building and went straight for the lines. Which, luck was on their side, the lines only had a couple of people in them so it wouldn't take long. "It's like almost everyone in Domino has already watched the movie so our (room?) will be half empty." She smiled.

"Sweet." Yugi commented. Tea has been waiting months for this movie to come out and when it did, they were both busy so they couldn't watch it. Just after a month and a half, they were finally able to watch it.

They ordered a large popcorn, knowing that Joey will want some, and a medium Dr. Pepper. Yugi paid for it, and they walked to the right room. They sat in the middle of the room; the best spots in the theater. Or, the second ones. The top row was the best seating area, but the first three rows were already full. The rest of the place was sort of empty except for a few, scattered people.

"So, did Atem say anything this time?" Tea asked as she pulled her phone out and turned it to vibrate.

Yugi smiled and softly laughed as he did the same. "He told me that we have to watch the movie; he's going to want a good summary of it." Tea rolled her eyes as she got comfortable in the chair and moved the bar that separated each chair up. She leaned against her boy friend and took his hand in hers.

"Did he now?"

"Yup. I wasn't there so he could tell me, so he wrote it on a piece of paper." Before Tea could ask, Yugi dug into his pocket and pulled out the paper and handed it to her. She took it and opened it up.

After folding it back up, she shook her head and smiled. "Turd. I can't wait till he starts dating so we can torment him."

"Oh yeah, now that would be fun." Yugi smiled. He kissed Tea on the forehead just as the previews turned off and the lights went on low. The movie started!

XxxxX

"That was a great movie!" Tea commented as the two walked out of the theater, two hours and some odd minutes later. Her eyes were sparkling, the way they always do after watching a great movie.

Yugi nodded, one hand holding Tea's, the other holding the halfway eaten popcorn bag. "It actually was." ((A/N I was going to add some things about the movie, but i don't want to spoil it for those who haven't seen it yet. : p)) "It's a movie I wouldn't mind watching again."

Tea nodded. "Though, I do miss Will's and Elizabeth's story, this one was really good! And yup, I wouldn't mind watching it again!"

Yugi chuckled, "Of course you wouldn't; you're one of those Johnny Depp fan-girls."

"And proud of it!" She giggled. "There's a lot of cute American actors, and he just happens to be one of them."

They made there way down the street, not really having a destination in play. They talked and joked about the movie. At one time, they kissed each other in just a simple kiss and this little boy about the age of ten was walking down the same walkway but going the opposite way, pointed at them and said "Eww! Go get a room!" That made their day.

"So, where do you want to go now?" Tea asked. They were stopped at a stop light, waiting for the little man to appear. "I love walking around the city, since I'm with you, but my feet are killing me."

"Well, that's what happens when you wear heels!" Yugi joked. "But, I'm good with anywhere. We can even call the others so we can drop off their popcorn for them." He held his other hand up, the one still holding the bag.

Tea nodded. The light turned green and the little man appeared. They walked onto the street's crosswalk and continued walking. "Well, we can always go to our favorite cafe. It's not far from here."

Right after she said cafe, Yugi paused and stiffened up. A mini flashback of this morning popped up in his mind about what his father had told him. His hand tightened around Tea's who didn't notice her boyfriend had stopped until she received the squeeze.

"Yugi?" Tea asked, confused. People walked by them, not paying them any attention to them. When he didn't answer right away, she asked again, growing worried, "Yugi, are you okay?"

This time, he responded. He shook his head and gave her an apologetic smile. "Uh, y-yeah, sorry." He said. He continued walking and before the could get run-over, walked to the safety of the sidewalk.

Tea noticed the uneasiness in his voice but didn't question it right away. They walked in silence for several seconds before she looked over to her boyfriend to find him frowning and looking down at the ground. She bit the inside of her cheek, wondering what she had said to make him like this.

Feeling eyes on him, Yugi looked up. He noticed the concern look on his girlfriends face. "Tea, you okay?" He asked.

Said name frowned. "You're not the one who should be asking that." She said. Lucky for them, they were passing by a bench that was empty and Tea decided to park right there. "You _you _okay? One minute i was talking and the next, you seemed to freeze up for a minute."

"Oh, uh, yeah." Yugi stuttered. So he didn't have to lie, he said with truth, "was just thinking about what happened this morning." He didn't look her in the eye, feeling like those blue eyes will make him spill everything that happened. So instead, he looked over towards the street, watching all the different cars drive by.

Tea raised an eye brow. "You know, Yugi, I've known you since we were kids. I can read you like an open book. What happened this morning? And don't say nothing," she added when he opened his mouth then quickly closed it, "I know it's something. Otherwise, you would be looking at me. You always hide the important things when you don't look people in the eyes."

'_Huh, something I'm going to have to work on,'_ Yugi thought and bit the inside of his cheek. "Uh..." He sort of stalled. Really, he wanted to tell her, just because it was bugging him, but, it wasn't something he knew how to explain. He just met his father and didn't even know what that man was going to do.

Making the mistake, he looked away from the street and to those beautiful blue orbs. Then he released the sentence that bugged him the most, "I might be moving."

Tea looked at him with an puzzled look. "Moving?" She wrinkled her nose. This was something she never even thought about.

Slowly, Yugi shook his head. "Well, no. I know for a fact that I'm _not _moving." He once again looked away, but this time looked down at his lap. "Well, something could happen and that i might leave - But I'm not."

The dancer watched as her boyfriend had a mini one-sided argument with himself. his face was stricken with different emotions that it was hard to describe. They were still holding hands, so she squeezed Yugi's hand. With her free hand, she put one finger under his chin and lifted it up so that she could see his eyes.

"Care to fill me in on what's going on?" She asked, softly.

Yugi sighed. He nodded. "Well, you know how I had met my father for the first time yesterday?" Tea nodded and her free hand grabbed Yugi's other. "Well, uh... after our search for Bakura and we said goodbye, I asked my mom about him; my dad. She told me things i would never have guessed about him."

"And what would that be?"

"My dad, at first, was a kind and great guy. But, after working for this one job for a few months, he became cruel and abusive." Yugi explained, giving her the short and simple version. "My mom was about six or seven months pregnant with me, when he hit her." Tea gasped, not believing something like that had happened to Yugi's mother, who was a great, woman. Miyuki was a great role model from working hard, to being a great mother, to her personality. "Yup. Things happened like that for a while. He got really abusive and blamed everything on me; about money problems. That's a long story that I'll tell you later.

"Well, anyways, my mom and Jii-chan kicked my father out and told him to never come back. That's why i haven't seen him or why he was never around."

"So why did he show up now?" Tea asked.

"That's just it; he wants me and my mom to move back with him." He explained the meeting he had with his father this morning. From the small talk about each other to his friends. "He said it so simple that it caught me off guard. I... I kind of blew up on him, telling that I wasn't going to go with him and that I live here." He said, a bit embarrassed. "I feel bad about blowing up, but, it just made me mad."

Tea's face softened just a bit and she gave both hands a reassuring squeeze. "Yugi, you had a right to get mad. To be honest, if something like that happened to me, I have been screaming and yelling." Yugi smiled a bit. "So, am I the first person you told?"

He nodded. "Yes. I just couldn't bring myself to tell my mom. I think she would have been disappointed that i went to talk with him without telling her."

"Maybe, Yugi. But, you do have to remember; you're almost eighteen. You aren't five and where you have to tell her everything about where you're going and who you talked to." She said, "You were curious, i bet your mom will understand that."

"Maybe you're right," Yugi nodded his head again. "But..."

"But what, honey?" Tea repeated in a soft, loving voice.

Yugi's shoulder sagged just a bit and he leaned against the chair. "Nothing, I don't know what I was going to say." He let a sigh out, sort of relieved that he got that off of his chest.

"So, what are you going to do?" Tea asked, watching him.

"I don't know." He looked at her. "But, I think I am going to need to tell Atem about this. Him and Joey and Tristan too." He remembered the conversation they all had when the truth came out about Danny bulling Yugi. That wasn't something he wanted to get into; not telling his friends about whats going on. They want to know, so that they could help.

Tea smiled. "Well, let's call them and meet them somewhere. I know that they'll come because of the popcorn." They both softly laughed.

XxxxX

_"Hello?" _

"Hey, Atem. This is Yugi." Yugi said.

_"Ah, hey Yugi, how was the movie?" _A deep chuckled sounded, amused.

"It was pretty good, boso butt." Yugi smiled. Just hearing his brother's voice made him feel a bit better. Kind of safer. "How was your day?"

_"Pretty good. We're at the arcade and-" _Atem's voice was cut of by someone else taking the phone from him. In the background, you could hear the loud music and different noises of the games.

_"Oi, Hey Yugi!"_

"Hey, Joey!" Yugi greeted his blond friend, chuckling along the way of his friend taking the phone like he owned it.

"_So, Yuge, did you save me anything?" _He asked, getting straight to the point. If you were there with him, you would have notice him shuffling his feet. That, and it was easy to picture since they were talking about food and he always did this.

He smiled and in his best apologetic voice said, "Sorry, Joey, but we kind of ate it all." Tea watched him and started to giggle. "We were kind of hungry."

"_W-what? But, you... WHAT!" _Yugi pictured him dropping his mouth opened and the disbelief all over his face. "_But... You...?"_

Yugi couldn't help it. "Yes, we saved you some, Joey. We even bought a large so there would be plenty left for you."

"_Dude..." _Joey sounded like he just ran a marathon without stopping. "_Don't... Ever do that again...!"_

"Hehe, no promises. But hey, do you think you three could meet up with me and Tea? I need to tell you all something." Yugi announced.

"_Yeah, sure. Where?"_

"Uh... " He looked to Tea who pointed to a little restaurant across from where they were sitting. "There's a restaurant on Twenty-fourth street. Has a patio outside."

There was a pause on the other end as Joey told the other two, then, "_Sure thing. See you in ten," _And the other line clicked off.

Yugi flipped his phone closed and pocketed it. He looked to his girlfriend who was gathering her purse and the bag. "You ready? She asked as she stood up.

"Yup." He also stood up and took the bad from her so that they could hold hands. Together they looked both ways before crossing the street and over to the restaurant.

XxxxX

Just like they said, ten minutes later, and the three boys walked into the restaurant and out to the patio in the back. There, they met Yugi and Tea who were in the far corner, talking and both sipping at a chocolate milkshake.

"So, where's the buttery-delicious?" Joey immediately asked as he sat down at the table, followed by Tristan and Atem.

Tea rolled her eyes and grabbed the bag and tossed it over to him. "There, happy?"

The blond nodded and dug in to the corn. Tristan had to swipe the bag away so he could at least get a handful before their friend ate it all. Joey took the bag bag with a evil glare and hugged it against his chest as he taunted the brunette.

Atem rolled his eyes at the display of the two boys before turning his attention to his brother and Tea. "So, what's wrong? You don't usually call me and tell me to come to a restaurant unless something is wrong." He slightly tilted his head and, with his elbows propped up on the table and his hands intertwined, rested his chin upon them.

Tea looked at Yugi and gave him an encouraging nudge when he didn't move or say anything. "Don't be shy, Yugi." She whispered to him.

"I'm not being shy!" He protested. Then, clearing his throat, he said, "Atem, i know why my dad came here. What mom said was true; he really wants to take us back." Their talk from last night came to mind, about Atem saying that no matter what, nothings going to happen and they weren't going anywhere.

Joey and Tristan stopped their mini war of a popcorn fight and looked at the brothers.

Atem frowned and his arms dropped to the table. "How do you know? Mom wasn't as positive about it. Yes, Chokichi told her that, but she didn't know for sure."

"Well... I uh... Visited him this morning." Yugi said, feeling less confident. "Remember when i said i was going on a walk with Iggi? Well, we went to the cafe instead."

"What happened there?" Atem asked, sounding curious rather than mad.

Tristan held up a hand, stopping Yugi before he could get any further in his story. "Wait, fill us on this. The last we heard, you just met you dad. Did you find out anything on him from your mom?" He recalled what the two had said a few minutes ago, something about how Miyuki saying she knew but wasn't positive.

Atem looked from his friend to Yugi who nodded. Together, since Yugi didn't think he could explain it all, not knowing why, they explained all the knew. Tea was filled in on more of the details that Yugi had left out on purpose since earlier, he wanted it to be short and simple.

Everyone at the table was speechless. They didn't know what to say.

After a few moments of silence, Joey was the one to break it. "Well, there is a bright side of this,"

Tea frowned and looked at him. "And what would that be?"

"At least he isn't like my father." They all gave silent agreements. None of them, besides Tristan, have actually met Joey's father. They only knew his back story about how he hated Joey's sister, Serenity because of her eyes and that the man had a serious drinking issue.

Getting back on topic, Tristan nodded his head. "So, uh, before i interrupted you, you said something about meeting your father this morning. How did that go?" He looked uneasy, hoping that nothing violent or anything happened.

"Good, actually." Yugi said, surprising them. "It was nothing more than small talk... But he just wanted to know how my life has been, my friends, school life, stuff like that."

"Until...?" Atem asked, reading his partners emotions that were expressing a bit of disbelief. He was a bit surprise that Yugi went to go met his father without asking him or someone else to go with him. Especially since hearing what his father was like. But, then again, this was Yugi. He, no doubt about it, thought that in seventeen years, his father changed.

"Until he told me the reason why he came." Yugi said. To answer Joey's and Tristan's confused looks, he explained, "My father came back here because he want's me and my mom to go back with him to Texas to live as a family."

"Texas?" Joey repeated, looking shocked and confused. He then wrinkled his nose. "Why Texas? All it is is like an opened desert with sand and in some parts plains and crops such as corn fields and corn. They're always in a drought and dude, they actually have tumbleweeds there!"

Tristan nodded to that and continued, "A lot of cowboys and horses too. Everywhere you look, there's some kind of wildlife on the loose." Both boys looked so serious that most people would have believed them.

Tea, on the other hand, reached across the table and smacked them both in the arms. "We don't live in the seventeen and eighteen hundreds anymore! Texas looks exactly like Japan, just with their own culture and everything. They have shops and buildings too, you know."

Yugi couldn't help but smile at his friends sheepish looks.

"Oh, uh, yeah, we knew that." Tristan rubbed his arm that his female friend just hit.

"Sure," Tea rolled her eyes but smiled anyways.

"So, Yuge," Joey said, once again getting back on topic. He left the empty popcorn bag on the table, crumpled up in a ball. "What're you going to do about this?"

"To be honest," Yugi said, looking at each of his friends, "I really have no idea. All i do know, is I'm not going anywhere."

XxxxX

Till next time! ^^ This was another hard chapter to write... I have been saying it frequently, but I don't think I've been writing these chapters that well. :/ But eh, please just tell me what you think :) Y'all already know I take what y'all say to the heart and will change things. ^^

Reviews:

**Alejandro:** Aww, thanks! And I'll try! I usually update weekly. If it's ever longer than that, it's because I'm in writers block or something came up. But, I'm so glad you like it!

**fangirl:** Thank you! I'm glad you like this, and my other stories! I am a rather happy girl right now!

**AnzuFan:** And... you ain't the only one surprised. I write as I go, but like I have the story in my head and I plan it all out. I didn't plan that... -nervous laughs- But, it sounds interesting and it'll keep my attention. I'm like y'all, I don't know what to expect! (well, some things! XD ) Thanks for reading! ^^

**Kisara:** Hehe, I liked their wrestling match too! I didn't think I did it right, but, just the idea was adorable! And Yugi thought he won, how naive ^^ And I will write more! XD You can count on that! And, as for Yugi's dad's name... I really do not know how. I just wanted a name that sounded interesting, and unique. Even though it's a pain in the butt to spell, and I really don't know how to pronounce it, I like it and in a way, ….. kind of, it resembles his father. (I guess XD) It's just something unique!

**Couldn'tThinkOfaName:** You did! Congrats! ^^ I knew you could do it, lol. ^^ Though, it still is a hard name to memorize. Lol. And yes, only if Iggi did bite him. It would have solved so many things! . :D thanks. I jut made the name up right at the spot. Lol. And Waco! ^^ I... been there like once... and passed through it a lot. ^^ I don't care for it. My brother said it's boring there -shrugs- but it's different for people. Hope he has fun!

I will take your advice. People should know by now that I do not write yoai. So, I won't put that anymore. ^^ And I do agree, the people that do think like that... . (no comment)  
>And glad it worked out for you! XD Whenever I do that... It never works. I guess I don't have the charm ;D<p>

Lisa: Okay... we have a question for you that's buggin' the hell out of us. No other way to put it, but it'll help out a lot. Are you a boy...? Or a girl...? :/

But, thanks for reading! And I try to keep the chapters long. So it makes up for it I one time write a short chapter (which in the future one will come ^^)


	10. I Am Still Your Protector

I must apologize guys. Last chapter had many mistakes that I need to correct. (Or it's already corrected.) It's just, we got a new computer and it don't have a Microsoft Word and it's buggin' me to where I forget that I have to correct my own misspelled , and I am to blame on this one, I should have paid more attention to it. I also haven't been paying attention to my tenses -Slaps hand-

Lisa: ... You deserve more than that!

Hey! I thought we made up! I made you brownies for the incident with sending you to school!

Lisa: ... oh right. Forgot *munches on brownie*

.. . But yeah, that's all I have to say to last chapter. And the chapters might be a little late coming. I'm in writers block again. -,- I have no idea how things are going to happen now. I had everything in my head, but now that I'm writing it on paper, or computer, I'm changing it all. So yeah...I am sorry! And to tell you before you read this chapter, It's a boring one! But, enough of my bad news,

Both: On to the chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Chapter Nine:

He knew things were going to get complicated after his meeting with his son, that was why he had already formed a plan. But, he just had to get the timing right first so he could meet up with his supposed wife. After that one meeting (he wanted to have with her), he knew there would be a tremendous change in the future and that Miyuki would be coming back with him to Texas. And from the meeting this morning, he knew what kind of personality his son had. How Yugi talked about his friends, with such emotions and how he had that happy look to him, Chokichi knew Yugi was one to care about his friends and family a lot. Hurting someone that Yugi knew would get him mad and possibly be one to blackmail with. Yes, he figured all of that out in less than an hour. God, was he good.

Chokichi was sitting on the couch in his hotel room, watching the news on the TV while having his laptop out. He was doing some work from home and was thinking about what he was going to do. It was going to take patience and the timing must be perfect, but he knew he could get it all down in less than a week.

"I know I will need to talk with Yugi again," he said, talking to himself quietly. "I need to show him I'm not a bad guy, though he probably won't see it that way. Which is good." He smiled. "He'd be naive if he thought of me as someone good and trusting. But, for now, I hope he will at least trust me enough to have another meeting with me. I need to explain what's going to happen if he doesn't cooperate with me."

His fingers went flying over the keys as he continued his work for a few minutes. Man, just one day later, and he was backed-up with all of this work. At least it was going to be worth it. When he returned back to Texas, he would be able to pay everything off and start new. Then, he could go back to drinking and hopefully, won't go back to being in debt with the bank and anyone else.

"I still can't believe I asked those people for money. What was I thinking then?" He mumbled, his voice full of disgust at himself. "I took their money, not realizing that they were going to cheat me." He shook his head and decided to stay off of that topic. He would just get pissed off and then go buy some liquor to calm himself down. In doing that, something bad would happen; he was sure of it. So, he decided to think about what he would say to Miyuki instead.

The business man grinned. His wife was always one to be protective over her family. And if he so happened as to say something among the lines of, 'Don't come with me then expect someone who shares both of our blood to have something broken, or even worse, missing something'. Yes, that would do her good. She would definitely do whatever he said and would come with him. And he figured Yugi would be the same way. Just threaten him about kidnapping one his friends and torturing them. True, most people would do anything for that not to happen, but he knew that would hit a nerve for his son.

The man stopped typing long enough to stretch his arms out and look over to the clock on the wall. He blinked in surprise. He had been sitting on this couch doing work for the last couple of hours when it only felt like minutes. Weird.

Earlier in the day, right after his encounter with his son, he decided to go back to the hotel he was staying at to just chill. Besides doing work, he needed to get some research done. So he had Google-d 'Miyuki Mutou, Domino Japan' to find out where she worked at. ((Lisa: STALKER!)) Once he found her, he wrote the address down for use of tomorrow. But, besides that, that was all he did today. Very productive, isn't he? 

Anyways, the man thought for a moment before setting his laptop down beside him and stood up. He needed to eat supper, so he called room service.

As he was sitting down to eat, ten minutes after the people dropped his food off, he let his mind dance around the subject of his son and wife. Man, he couldn't wait until he could get his hands on all of Yugi's money.

"And all it will take is some abuse and some blackmail," Chokichi said thoughtfully as he took a sip of his water.

XxxxX

It was around five o'clock pm when the gang said their goodbyes for the day and went their separate ways. After what Yugi had told them, they each told him that no matter what, he wasn't going anywhere. And when Yugi looked at each and one of them, he, once again, saw the truth in their eyes. His friends would take care of him and wouldn't let anything happen to him if something were to happen. And that there, made him feel better. Everything his father told him, which wasn't much, left his mind and he didn't worry about it as he hung out with his friends at the restaurant they didn't feel like leaving.

Now that he was away from his friends, he didn't feel as secure about it anymore. It was just a hunch, but, what _would _happen if he did move? The look in his fathers eyes when he had left was strange, like he was telling the truth. Like, Chokichi see the future. His eyes were smirking and at the same time, giving the impression that they were glaring with a cold look.

Yugi shook his mind clear. He needed to stop thinking about that. No matter what, He. Wasn't. Going. Anywhere. No. Matter. What. Whatever his father was planning, wasn't going to work.

Atem looked over at his partner and noticed that he was oddly quiet. Just a few minutes ago, he was talking up a storm that it felt like there was no way to get him to close his mouth for even a few seconds. Now, was just a sudden change of behavior. '_Hm... Maybe he's just thinking.'_ He thought, but knew that there was more to this 'thinking'.

He cleared his throat and gently bumped into his brother, enough to cause Yugi to stumble to the side a bit. Wow, Yugi was totally out of it. "Whatcha thinking about?" He asked.

Yugi shrugged, coming out of his little world. "Nothing really. Just thinking about my father," he said truthfully. He looked over to his brother to find him frowning. "What?"

"You do know, that what me and our friends said was true, right?" He asked, wanting to be clear on this.

"Crystal." Yugi answered, rolling his eyes in a playful manner. "But, doesn't it seem odd though? It feels like I'm being over dramatic with this. Maybe I misheard my dad when he was talking about moving. Maybe he was wanting to move here from Texas and wanted me and Mom to move in with him?" He shook his head. It had been a long day and his mind was tired. Maybe he was confusing himself with the information he received.

Atem shrugged. "I doubt you misheard him." They walked in silence for a few steps. They were rather close to home so they didn't have much longer to walk. "But, Yugi, please promise me something." He stopped walking and when Yugi stopped too, he looked him straight in the eyes. Crimson upon amethyst.

Yugi tilted his head to the side, curious. "Sure, what is it?"

"Promise me that if your dad want's to speak with you again, you have someone with you. And I do not mean Iggi. As much as I love that fluff ball, he doesn't look much like a threat. Just please, promise me if you confront him, or he to you, you at least have me with you." He looked dead serious, even when he held his pinkie finger out. One thing was for sure, if you make a pinkie promise with Yugi Mutou, you know that that kid will never break it. He took it seriously to the heart and never once, broke one. So, if you made him promise something that you had to go to the pinkie promise, then you know it was something important.

Without a hesitation, Yugi nodded his head and linked his own pinkie with his brother's. "I promise."

XxxxX

That night, was eventful. Well, kind of. Yugi told his mother and grandpa what had happened earlier that day and didn't expect what reaction she gave him. She just nodded and kind of frowned though it wasn't out of disappointment or anger. She looked more like she was sad and regretting something. Atem was eating and looked from her to Yugi and shrugged.

"You okay, mom?" He asked her. They were seated around the table of supper, all four of them with Iggi eating his own dinner on the ground. They were having ramen tonight (the real yummy ramen like in Naruto) with an odd bowl of rice on the side. Yugi took a bite of his meal and watched his mom with concern.

The woman of the house nodded and blinked. "Yes, I'm fine. Just thinking." She took a sip of her water. "So, he told you the same thing, did he now?" She asked, though it seemed more like she was just talking to herself by how soft her voice was. But then, she looked at her son with fierce eyes. "Don't worry, Yugi, he won't be taking us anywhere. There's no way that's going to happen."

Yugi nodded but didn't say anything. His mind kept turning with everything that was happening and at one point, he started doubting what everyone was telling him. He only met his father once, and when he did, his father told him that he would be moving to go live with him. Yugi knew not to believe it, especially since all of his loved ones said that wasn't going to happen, but when he started to think about how his father was like before he was born, that was what was worrying him. '_He was abusive. I __know it's been years since that time, but what happens if he still _is _abusive? What would happen if he started to hit mom because we weren't going to be going with him?' _

Without noticing, he zoned out a bit. Though, no one seemed to notice except for Atem. He looked at his brother and asked through the link if he was okay. Yugi was starting to get used to the emotional link. Since he and Atem were sharing one body for almost three years, they already knew what each other were thinking without actually having to read their mind. So, their emotions were the same.

Yugi nodded his head in a small motion. He ate a spoonful of his dinner and listened to the adults talk in the room. They were discussing, in minor details, what they were going to do about Chokichi.

Grandpa cleared his throat and wiped his mouth with his napkin. "If he comes here again, I will do what I must." Meaning he would call the police. "But as of now, there isn't much we can do. He hasn't tried anything yet." He then looked to Yugi. "As for now, Yugi, I don't want you seeing your father. I don't want to sound strict-ed and horrible, but, if you were to see him, things might turn ugly."

Yugi nodded, understanding completely. "Alright." Though, he knew that wasn't going to stop anyone. For some reason, even though the meeting with his father went bad towards the ending earlier today, he still wanted to meet him again. Some people do change... sometimes. And Yugi was going to give him a chance, one that didn't involve moving.

"And that goes for you too, Atem." Grandpa added.

Said name smiled and nodded. "Alright." Like his brother, he might be having different plans if things continued to go the way it was going. It might be soon, or it might be later, but if Yugi's dad tried hurting his partner, then that man would be having to deal with him.

XxxxX

About an hour ago, they finished dinner, in which they changed the topic to talk about Yugi's date so they didn't have to talk about the depressing matter of Chokichi. Yugi wouldn't really say anything about it. But, after dinner, the two boys cleaned the kitchen and washed the dishes and then they all went their separate ways. Grandpa went to the living room to read, Miyuki went upstairs to keep working and to also read when she got tired. Atem went to his room, doing whatever Atem's do best. And Yugi went back to his room with Iggi. He had homework to do.

About halfway done with his work, even with an hour gone, he laid his head done on his desk. "So... much... work!" He complained. Iggi was laying on his bed, chewing on a green rubber ball. He looked up to his owner and gave him that doggy smirk before going back to his ball.

"Lucky, dog." Yugi stuck his tongue out at him in a playful manner. "You don't have to do this torture! It's pure evil!" When his dog didn't pay him any attention, Yugi let out a groan and picked his head back up. And then, he went back to work on his homework.

About three-fourths done, Yugi paused and leaned back in his chair. "I'm so stupid," he said softly to himself. Iggi perked his head up. "I can't stop thinking about my dad. I want to meet up with him again, but I'm kind of scared too. Could he still be the same man from years ago, or has he changed? That's the big question here." He moved his head so he could see out his window.

The navy blue curtains were pulled aside so you could see through the glass and out to the open sky. With the sky pitch black, all of the street lights were on, lightening the streets up. But, Yugi wasn't focused on that, he was looking up to the sky with all of the twinkling starts. It looked nice and peaceful there.

"There's only one way to know; I'm going to have to visit him tomorrow." He declared. But, then he frowned and groaned. "But I don't know where he's staying at or his phone number." And he didn't feel like being a stalker and try to search up his fathers name. Too creepy. "And anyways, I can see my father calling me again and wanting to talk with me. So... I guess I'll wait and see."

Yugi looked over at his alarm clock on his bedside table and read the little red numbers. A quarter till nine. And he still wasn't done with his homework. He let out a sigh. "Well, enough about what I want and don't want. I need to get this finished!"

As he worked, he felt the doubt start filling him again. Man, he was really needing to see his father to tell him again, that he wasn't going anywhere. He was going to tell him that he had no control over him. Maybe that would make him feel better. That, and make sure they both know that whatever the dad was planning wasn't going to work.

With each word written on the paper, Yugi found himself more and more doubting himself. He didn't know why. He knew his friends would help him stay here, but something inside him was torturing him on he was going to leave. On days like these, he would have fallen into some kind of zone that would take forever to get out of. Though, for the last, almost, four years, someone kept that from happening. He made Yugi feel better because he had someone watching out for him. Someone to make him feel safe. And, that was what Yugi was looking for right now. That same person to protect him.

So, after another hour, Yugi got dressed into his pj's and laid on his bed.(Finally done with his school work!) He couldn't believe it took two hours to do easy homework. Well, half easy. But he knew why it took that long; he wasn't really concentrating on it. More as, he would write down an answer, then erase it because it was the wrong one. That's why it took forever. And, he was doubting himself.

Even though it was a Saturday night, Yugi could tell he was the last one up. Everyone else was asleep, even Atem, who liked to stay up till the break of dawn.

Yugi thought for a moment. Then, without disturbing his sleeping puppy, got up off the bed and headed out of his room. (He turned the lights off.) When he slowly opened the door, he stepped out into the darkened hall and took a left. Passed the bathroom and his mom's room, he came to the closed door of his brother's room.

Slowly, Yugi turned the knob and entered the darkened room. And just as quietly, he closed the door with a soft _click_.

Atem's room was much like Yugi's, from the furniture. Though, to mix it up a bit, the bed was on the opposite side of the room and the dresser and desk on the other wall. He had a table full of picture frames right next to his window, which had a deep royal red color curtain covering it. The pictures were of their friends, of Yugi and him together, mom and grandpa, and, no one knowing how Atem had gotten them, except for him, pictures of his friends from his past life. All of them, including his parents and pictures of the palace. On his walls were a few posters of Egypt and a few of Duel Monster cards. Mainly of Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl and the three rare Egyptian God's.

Yugi took once glance around the room before spotting his brother asleep on his bed. Being like a little five year old and going to their parents room, Yugi crept towards the bed.

Luckily for him, Atem didn't take up the whole bed. He just took the edge of it where the bed was up against the wall. Yugi crawled into the bed and curled up against his brothers back, feeling a lot like that five year old, scared of the dark and of boogie man. He hid his face under the covers and didn't move.

XxxxX

Being an almost light sleeper, the ex-pharaoh felt someone next to him. He frowned, wondering who that could be.

"You alright?" A giggle sounded.

Atem shook his head and looked at his childhood friend. "I don't know, Mana." He said. He stood up from the sand dune he was sitting on and looked up towards the blue sky. He didn't have to shield his eyes from the blazing sun, since it was just a dream.

Mana rolled her eyes. For this night, it was just her in her friends dreams. Mahad had to be with the Pharaoh and others so he couldn't be here. But, Atem didn't care. Well, he did, but it was nice just hanging with Mana.

"How 'bout," she said, sticking her tongue out at him like a kid, "you go see what's wrong?" Then she giggled. "S'not like I'm going anywhere." She twirled on the sands of Ancient Egypt with her wand in hand. She was still dressed the same from her boots to her head piece.

Atem rolled his eyes and playfully slapped her on the arm. Like his friend, he was dressed in his Egyptian garbs. "Whatever. But, I'll be back. I kind of have a thought of what's happening." He closed his eyes and woke himself up. Opening his eyes again, he stared at the darkened wall of his room.

"Mm," he mumbled before blinking his eyes a few times. Slowly, without moving, he moved his head to look over his shoulder when he felt something against his back. "You alright, aibou?" He asked, noticing his brother curled up against him.

"Mmm mm mmmm mm mmm," the smaller one replied, causing Atem to chuckle.

"You know, when your mouth is hidden, I can't understand you." As gently as he could, he moved from lying on his side to go to his back. In doing so, his arm wrapped around Yugi's shoulder as the younger one rested his head on Atem's shoulder. Looked like a father son moment.

In a small voice, Yugi mumbled, "You guys keep saying nothing will happen. I believe you, I mean, it's not like I won't. But, what happens if something _does _happen?" He stared at the wall, his eyes unmoving. He curled up against him as much as he could.

Atem let a sigh out. So this was what he was thinking about at dinner. That's why he was so quiet during dishes and the last few hours. "Yugi, have I ever let something happen to you?"

"Depends on what that something is," Said name mumbled truthfully.

"Hey," Atem frowned, "Alright, I see where you're getting at. But, just remembered, I always came for you no matter what. You were my main priority." He thought of the few times Yugi was put into danger because of him. But, he always saved him.

"True." He whispered.

Hearing that, Atem thought to his partners question from before. "Yugi, just remember, I won't let anything happen to you. We may not share the same body anymore, but I am still your protector. I won't _allow _anything to harm you."

Yugi felt a little bit better hearing that. He knew he was over-reacting, and making this a bigger deal than it should have been, but still. He didn't want to leave.

"It's alright to be scared." Atem soothed him, reading his emotions. "Nothing like this has ever happened to you before. You don't know if you'll stay or go. Though, no matter what, you'll be staying." ((A/N I feel like I'm saying the same thing over and over and over again! grr!)) He squeezed Yugi around the shoulders to show that he wasn't lying. "I'll always be here."

"Thanks, Mou hitori no boku." He whispered, using a name he hasn't used for so long because it didn't really fit anymore. But, this just reminded him of how things used to be.

Atem smiled. "Anytime, aibou. That's what I'm here for."

XxxxX

Till next time! ^^ Another sappy chapter... but, i promise things will really change next chapter. :)

And.. this chapter, it felt like I kept repeating myself... So just to clear it up, Yugi kept doubting himself because he's afraid. Even with that one meeting, that ONE MEETING, he is afraid that something will happen and that he will end up moving. When his loved ones tell him that's not going to happen, he feels better and it's the truth, but when he's alone, he starts to doubt it... does that help? I kept trying to explain that, but wasn't doing a good job at it.  
>That, and I doubled, no, tripled check this chapter to make sure I did everything right. .<p>

Reviewers:  
><strong>fangirl<strong>: Hehe, thank you! i just hope to keep all of my chapters interesting and good. (Which is hard! x.x)

**AnzuFan:** 'Don't forget to watch the movie.' XD I thought leaving a note would make things more fun and awesome. ^^ i had fun writing it and couldn't stop giggling. Hope you enjoyed this one as well!

**Kissara:** Mmmmmmmhmmm! Atem is planning things! XD The older brother will take action if necessary! (And really, everything is necessary if it means keeping Yugi safe.) ^^

**Couldn'tThinkOfaName :** Ooh, so you _are _a girl! Well, that's great to know!

Lisa: Now we know what to use. ^^ We always talk about your reviews to Kairi's sister, because Kairi gets giddy after reading reviews that she's going to explode if she doesn't talk to someone about them -

Do not!

Lisa: Too! Anyways, but every time we talk to her, we don't know to use 'he' or 'she' so we end up using both, confusing the hell out of her sister.

That is true. lol And i asked my mom. She says dogs don't really sigh, and when i asked someone else, they say they can... so it's a toss up? Just go with that in my story, they can! XD Oh, and you are welcome! I was so close to saying something about the movie, but thought twice and decided against it. But, the movie is really good. ^^ I liked it, except for the parts i got lost at. ... i zoned out for some odd reason. XD  
>And i will get onto those errors. I don't even know what i was thinking for them! . Thanks for pointing them out! Only a few readers point them out. ...<br>And another long review... Sorry, lol just a lot to say ^^ But, sorry this chapter didn't have any action. Maybe next chapter, *crosses fingers* There will be some. I have no idea yet... but i will try to have some!  
>But, thanks for reviewing! I love how you leave awesome ones, that are also long! Makes it more inspiring to write and easier. And fun! XD <p>


	11. The Broken Pinkie Promise

Well... This another filer chapter, but... It gets rather interesting towards the end, if you know what I mean. ;D

Lisa: Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** Like in my other stories, I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Chapter Ten:

The next day went by slowly. Miyuki had left early to go to work after her few days off, and Grandpa went to a doctor's appointment. He didn't have to worry about the shop since it was closed. He didn't like opening the shop on Sunday's anymore than students liked going to school during the weekends. He just didn't think it was right, so he didn't open it. That, and so he could get some things done and not have to worry over the shop.

While the adults were away from the house, the two teenagers invited everyone they knew to their house so they could have a huge party. It was going to be the biggest party in the whole city with all kinds of 'refreshments' there. If you know what I mean. ... ... yeah, right. Only if that were true. Just wanting to see if I could confuse y'all. Don't think it worked... anyways, back to the real story!

While the adults were away from the house, the two teenagers were watching TV. Yugi was curled up on the couch with his dog watching a cartoon of a re-run. Though, he was kind of squished since his dog was getting bigger and bigger by the months. Atem was watching the TV too, but also was just thinking on what they could do for their Sunday morning. Even though it was only ten o'clock am, he still wanted to do something. But, he didn't know what.

_"Hey, where's Perry?"_ The cartoon asked, looking around their backyard for their pet platypus. The two main characters looked around, as did all of their friends. But they just couldn't find their animal. They didn't show much concern since their animal always went missing this time a day. Little did they know, their pet was a secret agent that went on missions everyday.

Yugi smiled, loving this American show. Even though the Japanese TV people airing this show didn't change it so they had Native people playing the parts, it was still good. ((meaning the English people still spoke and didn't change.)) But, they did have Japanese subtitles at the bottom. Yugi, who could sound like English was his first language, didn't need the subtitles. Atem and their friends were the same way.

Yugi looked over to Atem was who was watching the TV but had that thinking face on. Before asking him what he was thinking, he first said, "Hey Atem?" The older boy looked over to his Light. "Do you think mom will let us get a pet platypus?"

Atem rolled his eyes and smiled. "Oh yeah. That and she'll let us get a camel to match."

"A camel?" Yugi wrinkled his nose. "You always have to put something Egypt related in, don't you?" But he was laughing.

Atem nodded, "Well, yeah. I did use to live in Egypt you know." His thinking face was long gone and in it's place a smile. Though, it was more like a sarcastic one.

"Yeah, millions of years ago." Yugi teased.

"Hey," The darker half looked half insulted, but with that laughing aura about him. "I'm not that old. It was only five thousand years ago, not a million. And yes, I do like to add random Egyptian stuff in my conversations. It's fun."

Rolling his eyes, Yugi looked back to the TV. "Uh huh, whatever."

"Hey! Don't look back to the TV! That's rather rude!" And then Atem tossed the controls at his Light. The object landed right behind his back where a small empty space was, like Atem intended it to. Yugi never did like leaning into the couch, but more preferred to lay an inch or two away from it. Weird child.

Yugi froze, his eye brows raised. He looked over at his brother and grinned like an evil child with a plan. "Oh, I see how it is." Making sure his dog wasn't going to be in the way, who jumped off the couch and laid down on the carpet far away when he sensed what was going to happen, Yugi launched himself at his brother.

Atem caught his Light and tried to pin him down on the couch in the good nature of wrestling. "You see what?" He smirked and then was lightly kneed in the stomach. His grip on his brother loosened as Yugi took the smirk and watched as his other half was trying to play it off as it didn't hurt. But that wasn't going to happen. "Ahh, c-cheater!" Using one hand, Atem grabbed his stomach. One, it didn't really hurt, but it was just out of random, and two, he couldn't believe Yugi did that!

Yugi shook his head and managed to hold on to his brother and threw his weight off the side of the couch. When they landed, Yugi made his way to the top and sat down on his brother. "I see myself winning this one!" He grinned.

Atem disagreed with this. "Pssh, I think you should get your eyes checked, aibou." Using his strength, he managed to toss Yugi off of him.

"Eep!" And the younger brother went over his brother and landed on his back. Before he had time to process what happened and try raising to his hands and knees, he felt something hit him. What hit him was unexpected. "A pillow?" Yugi asked in confusion. He held it in his hands and wasn't paying any attention to his surroundings.

"All apart of my plan!" Atem boomed in that loud, powerful voice that Yugi guessed was how he talked back when he was pharaoh. Yugi only had time to look from the pillow to where he was tackled again. "Everyone always falls for the pillow trick!" He laughed as he managed to pin Yugi down by the shoulders.

The poor Light tried to wiggle free but Atem's grip was to strong. "H-hey! Now that's cheating!" He kept trying at it but to no avail.

"How is this cheating?" He laughed and sat on top of his victim. "I played fair and square. You, on the other hand, play dirty." He couldn't help but be happy. Last night, Yugi was all depressed and scared. Now, he was laughing and in a great mood. Just the little things, is what helps.

After about two minutes of struggling. Yugi gave up. His body just stopped and it looked like he relaxed. His tense muscles smoothed out and he glared. "Fine, I give." He huffed. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Ah, another victory." Atem cheerfully said. He still sat on top of his brother and didn't feel like moving yet. Enjoy the scenery. "What does that make this, ten to zero?"

"No! It's more like eight to four!" Yugi pouted, but had to make sure that he at least had some points on him. "Don't over exaggerate, butt head!" He was waiting till just the right moment. After about another minute, Atem finally got to his feet and held a hand down for Yugi to take. Once both boys were on their feet, they looked at each other and rolled his eyes.

Just as Atem turned his back on his brother, Yugi attacked him and jumped onto his back. "Never turn your back on your enemies, even if they are your brothers!" Yugi yelled and clung to his darker half like a monkey to it's momma.

"Hey!" Atem protested, startled. He tried to reach behind him to grab a hold of his hikari, but to no use. He just couldn't reach him. And even if he did, Yugi would have clung to him.

"Hehe, so, who's victory does this led to now?" Yugi asked, not letting go. His legs were wrapped around his brothers waist for a better hold, and his arms gently wrapped around his neck so he wouldn't fall off. He rested his chin on his brothers left shoulder.

Atem didn't say anything. He did hold onto Yugi's leg's, not wanting him to slip.

"I can't hear you!" Yugi pestered him, waiting with a smirk on his child-like face.

"... Fine, you win." The ex-pharaoh muttered, not at all happy. Unknowing to his Light, he walked over to the couch. There, he backed up, the back of his legs hitting the couch.

Yugi smiled real big. "Yay! So, seven to five!" He proudly announced. But, before he could enjoy his winning, Atem let go of him and had able to release himself. Yugi fell onto the couch.

The older boy grinned. "Just because you win, doesn't mean I have to give you a piggy-back ride."

Yugi gave him a sheepish look before sticking his tongue out at him. Atem did the same thing, making them look more like five year old's rather than seventeen.

No longer had that happened, did the bell to the game shops door ring and a friendly voice yelled out, "Hey everyone, I'm hooome!"

Yugi got up off the couch and smiled. Yelling back, he said to the blond, "Hey, Joey!"

Iggi, who had been lying against the wall, watching his owner and other play fight, perked his head up. His tongue came rolling out of his mouth and he got to his paws. Not even pausing to stretch, the medium sized beagle charged from his spot, past his best friend, and around the corner. There, he saw the familiar blond walking towards the living room with the normal two friends trailing behind him. They were all talking until Iggi ran at full speed.

Joey barely had enough time to see the dog running towards him before he was knocked down on his butt from the impact. "H-hey!" He yelped, now sitting on his buns, holding the beagle in his arms. "Why didja you do that for?" He asked, not at all mad. But more as playfully annoyed. Iggi loved to do this every time he saw Joey. It was there thing.

Iggi barked and licked Joey in the face before wiggling out of his arms in a hurry and ran back for the living room.

Tristan and Tea were laughing.

Joey stood up and wiped his face of doggy slobber. When he started to walk after the dog, he called out, "Yuge, if you find that your dog is missing, just know I had nothing to do with it!"

"Oh, that's so not suspicious," Tristan muttered and Tea nodded in agreement.

They reached the living room where they found the two Mutou's just standing there. Yugi was dressed in jeans and a blue tee while Atem was dressed in his usual black skinny-jeans and a yellow shirt with the sleeves black. They watched as their friends came into the room.

"What's with all the standing around?" Joey observed as he looked around for a certain creature.

Atem shrugged. "Nothing important." He leaned against the couch, kind of sitting down.

Yugi frowned and crossed his arms in a playful way. "You are so not going to do anything to my dog!" He eyed his blond friend as he tried not to look in the direction the beagle had ran in.

Joey huffed but continued to look around the room. He started to talk with a 'I'm-not-going-to-do-anything' tone, "Don't worry, I won't do anything, nothing at all." Though his voice betrayed his words. His gaze stopped when he caught a brown tail sticking out from the other side of the couch. He grinned an evil grin before creeping towards the tail.

Tea rolled her eyes and walked over to her man. She hugged him and pecked him on the lips. "How are you?"

Yugi's face brightened up by the gesture, as he said, "Pretty good. How 'bout you?" For a minute, he forgot about his dog about to be attacked and focused on the girl in his arms.

As the two love birds started to talk, Atem and Tristan stood beside each other as they watched with amused expression as the blond was getting closer and closer to the other side of the couch.

"Ten bucks says he'll catch him," Tristan whispered, holding his hand out.

Atem smirked, not taking his eyes off the two. "Your on." They shook hands. "I do hope you know, Iggi isn't one to go down that easily." He crossed his arms against his chest, waiting.

Tristan ignored him, thinking that he was about to become ten bucks richer. Joey was a pro at catching dogs. He had a lot of experience whenever Princess had gotten out of his back yard. He would call Joey over and together, they'd chase that dog. His grin widened.

Joey kept getting closer and closer, making sure his steps were light and slow. At the corner of his eye, he noticed his two supposed friends shaking hands while watching him. '_Whatever they're betting, I better get some since it's me they're betting on!' _He then ignored then and right when he was in leaping distance, he jumped for the tail, much like how a baseball player sliding for the Home base to be safe.

Just as he was about to grab for the fluffy tail, it moved, resulting in the blond grabbing nothing and receiving a face full of carpet. On his stomach, he looked up with a dazed expression to see the dog a few feet away, laughing in a doggy manner.

"Told you not to mess with my dog," Yugi mumbled, rolling his eyes. Everyone in the room had watched the scene play out and were laughing along with Iggi.

Tristan glumly pulled out his wallet from his back pocket and pulled out ten dollars before handing it to a smirking Atem, "Not fair,"

Atem took his payment and stuffed it into his pocket and shrugged, "Never underestimate a dog, especially one trained by Yugi."

XxxxX

It turned out that the gang stayed over at the Mutou's house to hang out. Joey was playing a video game against Tristan and Atem while Yugi and Tea sat on the couch together. They would talk, occasionally kiss, and then would watch the boys try beating each other in some American game called Call of Duty. It was rather funny to watch, especially when either Joey and Tristan or Joey and Atem or Atem and Tristan would team up on the other player.

About an hour while everyone was there, Grandpa had showed up from his doctor appointment but then went right back out saying he was meeting some friends and would be out late. He stayed how all of five minutes, and then left again. Yugi could have sworn the older man was the teenager again.

While everyone was busy doing whatever they were doing, Iggi had his chance to sneak passed Joey and hop onto the recliner that was unoccupied. He was grinning in success that he got away from the certain blond without getting tackled. So he laid on the chair, all stretched out and lazily watched the television.

"So what should we do after this?" Tea asked, her hand entwine with Yugi's.

Yugi shrugged. "I don't really know. It's a Sunday and not a lot of places are opened." He frowned, trying to think of a fun place to go.

Joey just shot Tristan and was about to celebrate when a grenade was thrown and the blond's character died. "What? I didn't know you were right there!" He whined.

Atem smiled in trumpet. "Don't get over cocky."

Tristan grinned. "Didn't want you to have another ten killing streak so we had to team up." He bumped fists with his buddy before returning to the game.

Joey shook his head. "I call war on y'all!" He hunched his shoulders and furrowed his brow, trying to look imitating.

"Dude, this basically _is _war." Tristan rolled his eyes as he hid behind a building, reloading his gun.

"Well, good! 'Cause I'm gonna kill you both!"

Tea rolled her eyes. "Boys will be boys," She sighed, getting a raised eyebrow from her boyfriend. "What? You know it's true!"

"Not saying anything to that." Yugi smiled and looked over to the clock. It was about two pm. '_Hm... what should we do today?' _He thought, still trying to find something fun. But, as he was thinking, he looked around the room and noticed one person missing from the bunch. Then, he realized something important.

"Hey, does anyone know if Ryou ever found Bakura?" Yugi asked, kind of worried and feeling stupid that he forgot to check up on his silver-haired friend. Man, he felt like a bad friend.

Joey paused the game and the three of them turned around. "I never got around to asking him and I haven't seen him since Friday."

Tristan nodded. "Same. I haven't gotten around in asking."

Atem shook his head.

Tea thought for a moment but then shook her head. "But now that you mention it, wouldn't he have called us if Bakura was still missing or something?"

Yugi shrugged, not knowing the answer to that question. "Hm... Well, I'll call him and see what's up."

"Ask him if he wants to hang out with us." Tristan offered.

He nodded before getting up and going upstairs to retrieve his cell phone which he left on his desk. The guys turned back to the TV and started to play again.

Once in his room, he walked over to his desk and grabbed the little black phone. "I hope everything is alright," he mumbled to himself and typed in his friend's number and pushing send. Putting the receiver to his ear, he waited for three rings before a familiar voice sounded on the other end.

"_Hello?" _The voice of Ryou answered. He sounded normal, which was good. He didn't sound concern or too happy or depressed, just his normal greeting.

"Hey, Ryou, this is Yugi." He greeted him.

"_Oh, hey Yugi!" _The other end said. "_What's up?" _There was some background noises and then a loud meow. "_Stupid thing, get away from me!" _Ryou suddenly said in a annoyed voice.

"Having some cat trouble?" Yugi chuckled. He sat down at his desk and started to fiddle with a pen, rolling it to the sides.

"_Wouldn't you know it. This cat won't leave me alone! I first feed it in the morning, but then it just sits there, looking up at me. I have to leave the room before he will eat. Then, he scratches up all of my furniture, trying to sharpen his claws and he ruined my dad's favorite couch!" _The British teen complained. _"And that's not all. That cat sheds like crazy! White fur is everywhere! Even in places you wouldn't think possible. Then, there's the one thing I hate most about him: He's a demon cat!"_

Yugi frowned, though trying to hide his amusement. "How so?"

"_He always glares and will attack me in the middle of the night for no reason! I have scratches all over my arms and legs and face because of him! He even sleeps on my face at night that I wake up and can't breath! Then, during the day, he will first glare at me for an hour while just sitting in one place, not moving. It's really awkward. Then he'll come over to me acting all innocent and nice... I hate him! I can't wait till Bakura comes back, then I won't have to bother with the cat!"_

"I could always have Iggi come over."

"_I would love to accept that offer, but then Bakura would literally kill me if something were to happen to that cat." _There was a sigh on the other end.

"Oh, speaking of Bakura," Yugi said, remembering why he called. "Have you found or heard anything from him?"

There was a pause on the phone that went on longer then it should have. Yugi had to check his phone just to be sure he didn't accidentally hang up on his friend. Finally, Ryou started to speak again, _"Yes, I heard from him..."_

"And...?"

_"And... I found a note, telling me he's going to be gone for a while, but he didn't say where he was going. Just, 'Going to be gone for a long time. Don't go all crazy ass and try to look for me.' That's it." _He now sounded frustrated but relieved at the same time.

"Really?" Yugi asked, surprised. "But, I thought you said you checked the whole house and couldn't find anything."

"_I did. I tripled checked it."_

"Then, where'd you find the note?" The King of Games asked, confused. '_Maybe Bakura put it in the mail box? Atem did that once...'_ He thought, remembering back before Atem found his true name and everyone called him Yami. Yami was going to the store but had to leave a note since no one was up yet. He didn't know where to put it, so he decided to put it in the mail box. Don't really know why, but he just did. Grandpa got after him about that one, and told him to just leave it on the counter.

_"You wouldn't believe it if I told you_,"

Yugi smiled at the challenge. "Oh, give me your best shot. Atem has also done some weird things."

There was another pause before Ryou replied_, "Well, I got up this morning and was wanting to make something. So, I went to the fridge and pulled out the egg carton and the milk. Well... Instead of finding the half of dozen eggs I knew were there last time, I found the note."_

Yugi started chuckling. "Well, now I can tell Atem that the mail box incident wasn't so bad. The egg carton? What happened to the eggs?"

_"That's what I'm wanting to know! And I was really looking forward to those scrambled eggs too_." Once again, he sighed. _"But yeah, that's what's up with Bakura. If he was able to leave a note, then I know he's safe."_

_"_True. That's good, though. One less thing to worry about." Yugi agreed. He stopped playing with his pen and stood up. With the phone still in hand, he decided it was time to go back downstairs. "But, hey, what are you doing today?"

"_Trying to keep my distance from the Demon cat..."_ Ryou said, but then added,_ "Nothing really."_

Yugi smiled and walked down the stairs, taking his time since he was in no hurry. "Did you want to hang out with me and everyone else?"

_"Sure. I'll be over in a few minutes."_ Ryou happily said.

"Alright. See you then," Yugi nodded his head and waited for a goodbye before closing his phone. And just as he did so, he entered the living room. It looked the same, just as he left it, except, now Atem was sitting next to Tea, letting her play. Though, it looked like Joey and Tristan didn't know.

"Man, what happened, Atem? You suddenly sucked!" Tristan commented, not taking his eyes off the screen.

Tea frowned but didn't say anything. Though, Atem chuckled and responded, "Just trying something new out." Which, in a way was very true. Tea didn't like video games much, but would sometimes play. This was her like third time playing this game.

"Huh, well, it ain't working for you, man." Joey said.

Just when he said that, Tea had threw a grenade and got a two killing strike. Both boys were in the same spot. "That should teach you!" She playfully threatened.

Spinning around, the two boys gaped at the wireless controlled in their only female's hand. "You were playing?" Tristan asked, surprised. Tea nodded her head, looking satisfied.

Under his breath, Joey mumbled, "No wonder."

"What was that, Wheeler?" Tea threw a pillow that was nearby. Joey didn't have time to dodge as it smacked him in the face.

"N-nothin'!"

Atem rolled his eyes with a smile on his face. He looked up at his brother and a message passed between them.

Yugi laughed and nodded. "So, who's winning?" He sat down right next to his girlfriend, with Atem on the other side of her.

Both boys didn't say anything and pouted.

Yugi took that answer as Atem was.

"So, what did Ryou have to say?" Tea asked, looking over to him, her blue eyes shining in an amusing way. She handed the controller back to Atem who just put it in his lap.

"Well, he doesn't have to worry about Bakura anymore. He found a note saying that he was going to be gone for a long time."

Atem frowned. "Is that all?" Yugi nodded. "But, where did he find the note? I thought Ryou searched the whole house." He looked confused, his mind starting to thinking of places that the Thief King could have gone.

"Let's just say that someone has finally found a more random-er place than the mailbox for putting a note in." Atem pouted and crossed his arms against his chest. He knew his Light wasn't going to live that down. Joey and Tristan started to softly laugh. "Ryou said he found the not in the fridge in the egg carton."

Joey cracked up. "Man, what is with your Egyptians? What's up with putting things like notes in weird places?"

"It's not our faults! We never did anything like that!" Atem argued back, trying to keep from getting embarrassed. "We told _people _where we were going, not paper!"

Tristan rolled his eyes, "Sure, man. Whatever you say." He looked back over to the TV before using his controller to exit out of the game.

Yugi was just about to say something when the doorbell rung. Iggi's head perked right up, along with everyone else. "Huh, must be Ryou. But, that was really fast," Yugi commented, checking the clock on the wall. He got back up and went to go answer the door when his dog leaped off the chair and started running towards the door.

"Are you sure that's Ryou?" Tea asked, amused by the beagle's reaction. "I didn't know he and Iggi were that close. I thought it was only Joey who Iggi would greet and knock down." At that comment, Joey stuck his tongue out at her.

Shrugging, Yugi followed his dog. Once he entered the game shop, Iggi was waiting at the door, sitting and staring. He barked, trying to get his owner to hurry up.

"All right, all right, I'm coming." Yugi smiled. He knew who was at the door now. Iggi only acted like that for one person, and one person only. Or, well, one dog, and one dog only. He made it to the door and unlocked it. Opening it, his smile brightened, as did Iggi's.

"Hey, Lyla!" Yugi greeted, seeing the now sixteen year old girl standing out in the sun light. She looked as beautiful as ever with her long brown hair pulled back into a high pony-tail. She had cut her hair in the front so she could have bangs some time ago. And now, instead of them cut at her brows, they grew to hang in her green eyes. Instead of her wearing running clothes, like she usually does when she comes by for a quick visit, she was wearing some tan Capri's and a v-neck black tank-top. She was wearing her black convers to match the outfit.

"Hey, Yugi!" She smiled and had to squint to block out the sun a bit, even though she was wearing sunglasses. "How's it going?"

{Ah hmm!} A voice interrupted Yugi before he could say anything. He looked down to find his second favorite dog in the world looking up at him with an raised doggy brow. Iggi was sitting right next to her, looking up at her with admiration. His tongue was hanging out in happiness at seeing his mother.

__"Oh, sorry. Hi, Kairi!" He knelt down to one knee and scratched the female dog behind the ear, just in the right spot.

{Hey, Yugi,} She smiled as her own tongue hung out of her mouth. She licked up at the human, managing to get his cheek. {How's it going?} She asked at the same time as Lyla asked the same question.

Standing back up, and wiping his cheek, he smiled. "It's all good. How 'bout you guys? I haven't seen you running around lately."

"Been busy at the shop," Lyla groaned. "I can't keep up with all of these new shipments of dogs and cats. I love them and all, but they just keep coming. Mom wouldn't let us out of her sight until we checked them all in."

"And that took weeks?" Yugi asked, amused. Kairi had started to talk to her son, leaving the humans to talk.

"It sure did." She said and shook her head. "I finally got away from all of it. I knew Kairi was having a hard time not seeing you. That and Iggi." At the sound of his name, the younger dog looked up and barked happily. Lyla got to her knees and started to scratch the dog. "Hey boy," she said in a coaning voice. "Howa you been?"

Kairi looked up to Yugi as her owner started to play with her son. {So, how has he been?}

"Really good." Yugi responded. "Hasn't gotten in trouble for a while now, and has been having fun messing with Joey." He rolled his eyes, saying that it was a long story. "But, how 'bout you, have you seen your other pups of lately?" He had found out that a few days after he adopted Iggi, almost a year ago, that all the other puppies, his sisters, were adopted immediately. Only bad thing, more than half went somewhere else, like they moved to Tokyo or somewhere else.

{Actually, I saw Amanda just yesterday.} She happily said, talking about one of her pups that actually stayed here in Domino. {She had sprained her paw and needed to get it fixed. But, it was nice seeing her again.} And to add to that, she told her only son that his sister said hi.

"Well, that's good. Sorry to hear about the paw."

Lyla stood back up. "Oh, Amanda?" She asked, in which Yugi nodded. "Yeah, turned out she and her owner were playing Frisbee at the park and the pup wasn't watching where she was going." She shrugged. "Just happy she didn't break it."

"That's true." Yugi agreed. Then, noticed that he was still in the doorway. "Oh, did you want to come inside?" He moved aside just a bit.

Lyla smiled. "Is it alright? I came over to see if you wanted to go to the park so these two could play," She nodded to the beagles. "Thought it might be fun. That, and we haven't hung out for so long."

"I already have guest over," Yugi bit his lip. When seeing his friend's reaction, he quickly said, "But, it's not like we were doing anything. We were actually trying to figure out what to do."

"Alright, but are you sure I won't be intruding or anything? If you have plans with your friends, that's alright." She smiled, truly meaning her words.

Yugi shook his head. "Nah, it's fine. The more the merrier, right?" He whistled for Iggi to come in before stepping to the side to let the two in. Lyla took her sun glasses off and stuck them on top of her head. Just as Yugi was closing the door, a call sounded.

"Yugi!"

He paused and saw Ryou running to catch up. "Hey, Ryou!" He and Lyla waited for the new person to catch up before saying anything. Once Ryou had walked through the game shop, and Yugi closing the door, he said, "You alright there, Ryou?"

Said name nodded his head. He was lightly panting and his cheeks were pink from the walk here and then the run. "Peachy," he said with a smile. "I just didn't want you to get up after you had sat down." Unlike Joey, he didn't like to barge in unannounced so he always knocked. Yugi didn't really mind, since he could relate to it.

"Thanks, oh," he looked over to where Lyla was standing, smiling. "You remember Lyla, right?"

Ryou nodded. "How could I forget? How are you doing?" He asked, smiling.

"I'm doing great, thanks." She answered. "How 'bout you, getting along with Bakura?" She already knew about Bakura and Atem and their past life. Yugi didn't know why he told her, but he just did. And he was surprised that she believe him.

Ryou rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Kind of. He went out of town and left me with his cat."

"Really? Where did he go?"

"Don't know, he never said."

Lyla nodded. "Huh, weird. And what about this cat? I didn't know you got a cat."

As the two started to talk, Yugi led them to the living room with the two beagles trailing behind. Once they got there, the normal four were still in the same spots as before, but Tristan had turned the game off and was arguing with Joey about something, Yugi couldn't make out. But, once he entered, they shut up and looked at the newcomers.

"Hey, Ryou! Glad you could make it!" Tristan greeted and then caught sight of the lady. "Hey Lyla! Haven't seen you in forever." And just like that, Atem's head perked up. Yugi was watching him closely and noticed how his brother's eyes lightened up.

"Hey guys," both newcomers said at the same time. Ryou walked over to the couches, and took a seat down on the recliner.

Lyla watched Yugi, since she hadn't really been inside his house before, and noticed that he gestured for her to sit anywhere. When she sat down on the floor against the couch, next to Yugi, she answered Tristan, "Yes, it has been awhile. But, it's all because the shop has been chaos for the last several weeks. So many shipments of animals." She shook her head but grinned.

{Yugi!} Kairi barked, getting the humans attention. She was sitting in the door way of the living room, looking around the space with a lot of people.

"Yeah?" He asked.

{Do you know where my son went? I lost track of him,} She pouted in a cute manner. Her eyes darted around the room, trying to locate Iggi.

Yugi chuckled and looked around the room, in search for his pup. "Last I saw he was with you. But, he does like to disappear a lot. You can go upstairs if you want." Kairi nodded and turned around, starting to sniff around for the 'missing' dog.

"What did she say?" Tea asked. Everyone had turned to Yugi when they noticed he was talking to a dog. They all still found it rather amusing and awesome that he could.

He shrugged and turned back to his friends. "Trying to find Iggi. He suddenly disappeared." He rolled his eyes.

"So, Ryou," Joey turned his attention to his silver haired friend. "What's up with Bakura?"

For the next two hours, the gang stayed at the game shop. Lyla didn't mind, it was better than being home, so she was enjoying herself. Kairi had found her son snoozing away on Yugi's bed, for what reason? No one knows. But, she got him to wake up and literally dragged him downstairs. Then, she made him sit next to her so they could talk. When Yugi had looked over to him, he thought he saw his puppy give him the puppy eyes.

When the clock hit four, Yugi found himself craving something. Something that sounded good and that would be fun to do. When there was a pause on the topic of school, Yugi suggested, "Hey, how 'bout we go to the park and along the way, we can stop for ice cream?"

Atem chuckled. He had stood up a few minutes ago and was now leaning against the wall, not wanting to sit anymore. "I'm guessing it's been a while since you had some?"

"Well..." Yugi turned a light shade of pink and everyone in the room cracked up.

Everyone in the room agreed. They all stood up and Lyla called her dog to her while Yugi his. Happily, Iggi bounded over to his owner and had his tongue hanging out. In a soft voice, Yugi said, "You wanna go to the park, boy?" In response, the dog barked and his tail wagged.

Among the same lines, Lyla said the same and hook Kairi's leash back on. She had took it off when she had first came to the game shop.

The next ten minutes later, seven people, plus two dogs, were leaving the store and were on there way to their destinations. Yugi and Tea had taken the back so that they could talk as Atem and Lyla were right in front of them. The other three were chattering in the front, leading them.

"Did you lock the door?" Yugi asked Atem as they left.

"Yup. And I have my key in case." He added. Then they all started to walk.

While walking, hand in hand, Tea leaned over and whispered low enough so only her boyfriend could hear, "Is it just me, or does Atem like Lyla?" She was remembering how Atem would grow a light shade of pink every time Lyla would ask him a question when they were all in the living room. He would even stutter just a bit, but before any one could notice, he regained his composer and acted like nothing had happened.

Yugi grinned and said in the same soft voice, "He likes her. Though, he doesn't know it. And by the looks of things, I think she likes him too." They both watched the two ahead of them walking rather close together and were talking.

"I can talk to Lyla if you talk to Atem," Tea suggested with a raised eyebrow.

Yugi frowned, "Are you sure we should meddle?" He asked. He would rather just watch things play out then do anything to harm the two relationship.

"I wouldn't call it meddling, but more as helpful hints." Tea said, twisting the words. "And anyways, by the looks of things, I say they will need help. I can't really see Atem asking someone out. Well, not yet anyways." She gave his hand a squeeze, which he returned back.

"I don't know," Yugi bit the inside of his cheek. It would be nice if Atem had someone he could date. Then Atem would finally leave him and Tea alone, that and they would be able to tease him. Then, at that thought, Yugi smiled. "I say we should do it. Let's give it a try!" They both then looked ahead and grinned.

"So," Lyla started as she and Atem walked side by side.

Atem looked over to her and tilted his head a bit, waiting for her to say more. But, when she doesn't, he answered, "So what?"

She looked over to him with those forest green eyes as her forehead crinkled a bit. "I have no idea." But, then she smiled. "So, how are you, Atem? I never got to ask that earlier." She lightly giggled.

Atem smiled and shrugged. "I'm good. What about you? Well, besides the whole new animal shipment."

"Eh, bored." She replied honestly. "Only thing I've been doing is going to school and helping out at the shop. Otherwise, nothing."

"Huh, well, to be honest, that does sound a bit boring."

That cracked Lyla up as she nodded her head. "Yes, it does, doesn't it?" She then shook her head. "I would have done something with my friends, but, never any time. Which I hated. Anyone would." She sighed. "But, at least I'm doing something now." She looked over at her friend and smiled softly.

Atem felt a little nervous and nodded. He didn't know why he felt like this. His heart was racing more than it normally did and he felt like he was out of words. Like he didn't know what to say. And that, was something that never happened. '_What is this feeling?' _He asked himself, never had felt like this before. Well, minus the other times he was around Lyla.

The two continued to talk about anything that came to mind. Yugi and Tea kept a close eye on them but they were also talking. The three goof balls in the lead were, well, being goof balls. That's all that's needed be said about them.

After about ten minutes of walking, they arrived at the ice cream parlor. Lucky for them, there were only a few people in front of them so it wouldn't take to long of a wait. So they waited their turn, each of them buying their own, but paying at the same time. Making the cashier's job a little bit easier.

Since Lisa and Yugi had dog's, they weren't allow to go inside the shop. But, Yugi gave his leash to his girlfriend and went to go get their order since it was the same. Yugi and Tea always got the same, a chocolate cone. (Which sounds sooo good right now!) Atem took Lyla's order and her money.

As the two girls waited outside, Tea looked over to Lyla with a thoughtful expression. "So, Lyla," she started off. Said name looked over to her. "What do you think about Atem?"

A light blush made itself know on her cheeks. Luckily, her voice didn't betray her as her cheeks did. "What do you mean?" She asked in a normal voice. Though she was trying to hide the fact that just Tea saying his name made her heart flutter.

"You know," Tea prompted, noticing the girls blush, "like, do you like him?"

"Uh..."

Tea then smiled and giggled. "It's alright if you don't want to talk about it." She said with a shrug. "It just looked like you wanted to talk." Baiting her in.

Lyla looked over to the ice cream shop and watched as Atem and Yugi were talking to the cashier. Then she looked back back. "Well..." Then, she bit her lip and said in a rush, "Do you think he likes me? I don't know if I'm his type because I'm only sixteen still while he's about to turn eighteen. And, I don't think he likes me in any way other than a friend. I don't -,"

"Whoa, whoa," Tea said, holding her hands up in a surrender like stance, "Not so fast; I can't keep up."

She nodded and took a deep breath, starting from the beginning. "I do kind of like him," she admitted. "But, I don't know if he likes me. I don't want to ask him out and just be rejected. I don't even know if he has a girlfriend! Knowing him, he probably has like four." Her shoulders slumped as she looked down at her dog who was lying down in the shade of the chair.

Tea couldn't help but do a mental 'Yes' in her mind. She was thinking that she was going to have to try to get the girl to talk, but, she never expected Lyla to immediately open up and explain. She got a hold of herself and said, "Just so you know, he doesn't have a girlfriend, or four. He's single and is waiting for the right one to come along." At that, the sixteen year old looked happy. "And, for some advice, how 'bout you try and ask him out on a simple date. You never know until you try. That's what Yugi had to do." She couldn't help but smile at how nervous Yugi was to just ask her to go on a date. It was so cute.

"But, what happens if he rejects me?" Lyla blurted out again, letting out a sad sigh. She looked back up.

Tea shook her head and repeated, "You never know until you try." She looked up just as the bell to the shop opened and Joey and Ryou walked out. Tristan was right behind them. Joey had a combination of three flavors on his cone; Chocolate, Vanilla, and his favorite, Mint Chocolate Chip. Tristan had gotten a Ice cream sandwich while Ryou got a banana split with hot fudge.

The three of them walked over to the girls. "The other two will be out in a minute," Ryou said as he took a bite of his dessert.

The girls nodded, knowing that they couldn't say anything about Atem with them around. Be too weird.

Meanwhile, in the shop, Atem had just ordered a Rocky Road cone for him and a Butter Pecan for Lyla. He leaned against the counter and watched his partner with a curious look.

Yugi had already ordered his and Tea's cone and was waiting. Feeling eyes upon him, he looked away from the flavor's of ice cream and looked over to his brother. "What?" He asked, a bit amused.

"Nothing," was his short reply before he looked away. His eyes just so happened to stop on a certain girl outside.

Yugi made a face, still pondering on what his brother wanted when he noticed his face relaxed just a fraction that most people wouldn't have noticed. Curious, Yugi followed his Dark's gaze to see what he was looking at to make him like this. And then he grinned.

"You know, if you like her, why don't you ask her out?"

Atem shook his head, "I don't like her," though his voice betrayed him. He said it a little too fast and he mentally slapped himself.

"Uh huh, sure," Yugi looked back over to the counter, waiting. He rolled his eyes.

"No, really, I don't." He turned his gaze away and looked somewhere else. "Why would you say such a thing?" He felt a bead of sweat trickle down the back of his neck and he tried to make sure his voice went back to normal.

Yugi shrugged. "I don't know." Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Atem biting his lip and was thinking. It stayed quiet between them for a moment. Yugi was just looking around the store, smelling the different scents of the different flavors. Each on one of them smelled so good that they were making him hungry.

"Do you think she likes me?" Atem suddenly asked. He looked at his Light. Whatever he had said just a few minutes ago about not like her, was gone. His eyes looked lost in thoughts he pondered upon this question.

"Don't know until you ask her out on a date," Yugi prompted. When he got a look from his brother, he shrugged. "Hey, that's how you're going to find out. Just ask her out on a date."

Atem thought for a minute, "And if she says no?"

"Really? Must I answer that one?" Yugi playfully rolled his eyes. "I think you know the answer to that one, Mou hitori no boku. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out."

He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms against his chest. "Since when did you get to be so wise?"

At that point, a lady came back with their orders. "Sorry it took so long," She said and handed them there cones.

"It's all good," Yugi smiled in a friendly way. Holding two cones in one hand, he handed her all of the money his friends left on the counter. "Thanks and have a good day," He added before walking away from the counter. The woman thanked him and said to come back again.

Atem followed his partner. Just as they got to the door and were about to walk out, Yugi looked over his shoulder and said, "I just know what I'm talking about. It doesn't take much to realize that a girl likes you." Before giving him time to reply, Yugi walked outside.

XxxxX

As they ate their ice cream, they continued to walk towards the park. They were all chattering and having a good time, especially when a little kid ran over and somehow managed to kidnap Joey's ice cream. Boy, was he not too happy about that. He chased the kid all the way to the park and around millions of trees. When he finally caught the kid, he had finished the ice cream and saved nothing for the poor blond.

"Aw, why'd you have to do that for?" Joey demanded, half sad the other part mad. "What did I ever do to you?"

The boy glared at him and put his hands on his hips. "You owed me an ice cream cone. Remember a few months ago? You bumped into someone and told them that you would pay for it. Yeah, I was that someone!"

Joey thought for a minute, trying to remember. "Well, I do tend to say that to a lot of people, but I never see them again so I don't have to pay them back." He looked at the boy who deepened his glare. "All right, all right," he held up his hands in surrender, "I won't do anything to you." Then he mumbled something about wanting more ice cream.

The boy seemed satisfied and smiled. "Good. Oh, and by the way, you also owe me a sandwich." Without giving the blond time to reply, he went skipping away, being like normal eleven-year old.

Joey turned around, pouting when he saw his friends walk over to him. Ryou frowned and watched the little boy retreat and noticed his friend's expression. "What happened?"

"I apparently owed him an ice cream from a long time ago." He griped. "And he just so happened to remember that." He shook his head and looked around. Mostly every one was almost done, except for Ryou and Tristan who had already finished theirs. Yugi had a few bites before he would finish and same towards Atem. The two girls in the group were the slow eaters.

Yugi smiled. "We could always go back and get you one," he suggested, not wanting to leave his friend out.

"Nah, that's alright, Yuge. It's just ice cream. But, can I have Iggi's leash?" He looked down at the beagle with a evil grin.

"Uh..." Yugi looked from his dog, who was busy licking his paw, to his best friend. "What exactly are you going to be doing to him?" He asked.

"Oh, nothing," Joey answered. When he got one of those looks, he just grinned and took the leash, "I won't hurt him or anything. Just give him some..." he looked down at the dog who had stiffened at the leash exchange, "play time." He looked over to Tristan and said, "C'mon, let's have some fun!"

Tristan apparently knew what the blond was going to do and smirked, "Sounds fun!" As they start to run away from the group, the brunette grab Ryou's wrist and started to drag the poor teen away. "You're coming too!" He tossed over his shoulder as the silver-hair started to object.

Atem couldn't help but chuckle. He looked over to his brother, "I hope you know Iggi will be exhausted after this."

Yugi's eyes widen a bit. "Do you know what they're going to be doing?" He asked, half joking, half serious. Whatever Joey and Tristan were going to do, couldn't be too bad, but, he still had no idea what they had in their minds.

"Getting even would be my bet," Tea commented, liking her cone. "I don't think Joey forgot about the little incident this morning when we arrived at your house."

Lyla smiled and looked down at her own dog. Kairi was glaring at Joey, looking like she wanted to attack him while wanting to watch what he had plans. "Hm..." She mumbled before un-clipping her dog from her leash. "Go have fun, Kairi." She laughed as he momma beagle took off running after her child.

Yugi watched but then relaxed. "Well, if Kairi is going over there, I don't need too." The group watched the female dog go lay down close to the group, keeping a close eye on them.

Lyla giggled, "Well, you might need to. I don't know if Kairi will actually do anything," She walked over to one of the trees that gave off a lot of shade and sat down.

Before Yugi could start walking over there, Tea grabbed a hold of his hand, keeping him from moving. "Nope, you let them have some fun." He looked ready to object when she smiled and had to pull him away and go the opposite way, "Let's take a walk instead." Then, in a soft voice to where he could only hear, "And give those two some time alone."

The younger of the Mutou's closed his mouth and looked over to where Atem had walked over to Lyla and sat down next to her. He nodded his head in understanding before calling over to them, "We're going for a walk!"

Atem looked up and nodded before turning his attention back over to where Joey had pulled a ball from his pocket, not knowing how it got there, and showed the ball to Iggi who got excited and forgot all about wanting to get away from him.

As Yugi and Tea started walking away, Yugi looked over his shoulder and said, "I do kind of wonder how long it'll take for them too hook up." They were walking down the sidewalk, hand in hand and gazing around the park. "Atem does like her, but he doesn't know if she likes him."

Tea snorted, causing Yugi to turn his attention to her. She took a bite of her ice cream and said, "Lyla is the same way. She likes him. but doesn't know if he likes her. She doesn't want to ask him out and be rejected." While walking, she leaned in to him, "Those two might take forever to be hooked up together."

"I don't know, maybe we should let them figure these things out themselves," he said, using his words from earlier. "I don't really think it'll take that long. I say we should just stay out of it. And... in a week or two, if nothing happens, we can try to hook them up."

"My," Tea said, looking astonished, "Since when have you become the smart one in knowing about relationships? Last I looked, you were having trouble just asking _me _out." She raised an eyebrow and started to look him up and down. "Okay, where is Yugi Mutou and what have you done with him?"

He rolled his eyes, "Maybe you just started to rub off on me?"

"I highly doubt it," She snorted.

They kept walking and talking, taking their time since they had nowhere they really had to be.

Back with Atem and Lyla, they were having a small conversation about socks and Christmas.

"Really?" Atem chuckled as the girl next to him just explained how she used to have a sock fight every Christmas with her cousins. They would gather up all of the socks in the house, clean of course, and would have war, throwing them all around. If you got hit, you had to surrender half of your stock to the middle of the room before you could continue. Only the brave, fast ones would venture out into the open and try to gather as much as possible.

"Yup," Lyla giggled. "We don't really know why we do it, but it's just something for us to do and it gives our parents something to watch. One time, my dad and uncles actually joined in, and sadly, they all ambushed me." She shook her head as she relives those good memories.

"How many cousins do you have?" Atem asked.

"Too many to count. But," she paused and brought up her hands and started to count. When she past ten she looked over to the guy sitting next to her and had an idea. "Hold your hands up please," Not knowing what she was going to do, the ex-pharaoh hesitantly lifted his hands. "Don't worry," Lyla rolled her eyes and smiled, "I'm not going to bite!" She held his hands up to where she could easily see them before she continued to count. She touch each one of his fingers and silently counted.

About the six one, she paused and said, "I have a total of sixteen cousins." She announced proudly.

Atem raised an eyebrow. "Sixteen? That's a lot!" He thought about how he only had one cousin, Seth. (Right? Or Seto.. one of them.) And just having one cousin was enough.

Lyla laughed. "Really? Well, you should check out a friend I know that lives in the US. She's the youngest grandchild and she's number twenty-four!" (1) She looked over to where Joey had thrown the ball to Tristan and Iggi ran after the ball, trying to get it. But before the dog could, Tristan threw it to Ryou who caught it. Kind of like a monkey-in-the-middle game. So not fair.

"So," Lyla continued and looked over to Atem. "How many cousins do you have? Even though you lived in Ancient Egypt, what kind of stuff did you guys do?"

Atem shrugged and leaned back on his hands. "Well, I only had one cousin, Seth. He didn't really like playing or getting in trouble. And, I was also the only kid."

"Oh, that must have sucked, growing up."

"Nah," he shook his head. "I had a great best friend, Mana. We always got into trouble together. She was like the sister I always wanted."

"Well, that's good." Lyla smiled. "What kinds of stuff did you do to get into trouble?" She looked very interesting that Atem couldn't help but explain some of the stuff.

"One time, I played dead. It was Mana's idea and she wanted to do something that would freak the guards out. So, she conjured up some fake blood and we had a blast making it look like someone shot me." He laughed from the memory, "Though, we got into a lot of trouble for that. I was, what people call it now, grounded for what seemed like forever. My father wouldn't let me out of his sight and I couldn't play with Mana."

"I would ground you too," Lyla said, trying to act serious but was laughing. "I would be scared if I was the guard and found you like that! That's a horrible joke to play!"

"Hey, we were kids," Atem shrugged, "We didn't know what else to do."

"Okay, what else did you two do?" She asked. She pulled her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around them and laid her cheek on her legs so she could watch him.

Atem though about a good one. "Well, one of my most favorite was when me and Mana would play tag in the castle. Sometimes we would even get the guards to play with us. They were still doing their duty to protect the castle, so they didn't get in too much trouble." They started to laugh and would talk about stories from when they were little.

XxxxX (I don't need to bore y'all with all the little details. Now, I will get onto the more exciting parts!)

"You know, this is nice," Tea said. She and her boyfriend were laying in the grass a couple of hours later, starring up at the sky. It was probably around five o'clock and the sky started to produce more colors like orange and pink. She had her head resting on his shoulder as Yugi's arm was around her.

He nodded. "Yup." He was tired from all the walking they did today and was just wanting to rest for the minute, without talking, that is.

Atem and Lyla were still talking and Joey and the other two were still playing with Iggi. They managed to get the fluffy dog exhausted by running after the ball he never got. Their plans had worked. After a while of watching, Kairi had joined in, just for the fun of it.

As Yugi was lying down, tempted to close his eyes, he felt something vibrate in his pocket. Tea felt it too and lifted her head up a bit so Yugi could get to his phone. Once the little black electronic was out, he opened it up and answered, "Hello, this is Yugi."

"_Yugi! I'm so glad you answered. This is Leo from school." _A voice said on the other line.

Yugi sat up and replied, "Oh, hey, Leo. What's up?" Though he could already guess. People from school don't usually call him unless they want or need something.

"_Uh... I was wondering if you got the workbook pages from history. I forgot to write them down and everyone that I asked, they said that they didn't have it either."_

"Uh, yes. I already did it, but it's at my house and I'm not there right now." He answered. Tea tilted her head at him as she sat up, but he just shrugged.

There was a pause on the other end before Leo said, "_Do you think you could go home and get them?"_

"Can't I wait till later? I'm with my friends right now."

"_I can't wait till later!" _He said, almost like he was nervous. "_I'm sorry, but it's just if I don't get the workbook pages and do it now, I'm going to get grounded. I really need them now. And I'll... I'll pay you back. Just, please! I really need them!"_

Yugi bit his lip. It really wasn't his problem or responsibility to worry about homework for other people, but the way Leo was saying this made him feel guilty. Like, if he didn't tell his friend the pages, it would be half-ly his fault. And, he would have to go home eventually, why not now?

"Uh sure. It'll take me awhile to get home though. And I'll just text you the pages." He said and stood up. He helped his girlfriend to her feet.

"_Oh, thank you, Yugi! You are a lifesaver!" _

All he could do was nod his head. After they said their goodbyes, he hung up and re-pocketed his phone and turned to a waiting Tea. "That was Leo from history. He forgot to write down his homework pages and no one else seems to know what the pages were."

They walked over to the others who were gathering. Joey handed Iggi's leash back to it's proper owner and smiled real big.

"Just so you know, he'll be super tired tomorrow."

"Great," Yugi playfully rolled his eyes and took the leash. He looked down at his dog who was sitting down and was indeed looking tired. His head was drooped a bit and he was slowly wagging his tail. "But hey, I'm going to take him home real fast and meet you guys up at the pizza place."

Lyla and Atem stood up and Lyla tilted her head. "Pizza place?"

"We always go and get pizza on Sunday's after we hang out." Ryou explained as he wiped his sweaty forehead.

"Oh, okay,"

"I'll go with you," Tea offered.

Yugi shook his head with a smile. "No need. It won't take me that long. Just a quick drop off and a run upstairs for the homework."

"Homework?" Tristan asked and then teased, "What, are you going to be doing homework while we eat?"

"No, I already did my homework. But, Leo just called me and didn't write down the pages."

"So, basically, Leo is relying on Yugi to give him the pages," Tea added with a eye roll like she didn't approve of it.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to go alone?" Atem suddenly asked, eying his brother with a raised eyebrow.

Yugi pouted a bit, "I won't be alone. And really, I'll probably meet you guys over there. Oh, and I'll need your key since mine is still home."

After a few minutes of arguing, Yugi was finally able to go home to do what he needed to do. Atem had gave him his key so he would be able to get inside. They parted ways, the others going on ahead to the Pizza Parlor and Yugi and Iggi home. He knew why Atem was worried. Every time he went somewhere alone, someone always happened to get advantage of him. But not this time, it was just a quick stop.

XxxxX

Joey really had wiped Iggi out. The whole way home, Yugi noticed his usual hyper-active pup would drag his paws and wouldn't really sniff anything. He would just look around and would walk right next to his owner.

"You poor thing," Yugi mumbled, though he could help but smile.

Iggi looked up and gave him one of those Be-quiet looks and huffed out.

"Don't worry, when we get home, you can go sleep." He said, "And also, you have all day tomorrow to regenerate."

Within a few minutes, they arrived home and Yugi pulled out Atem's key and unlocked game shops door. Inside, he closed the door and unhooked his dog's leash from his collar. Instead of running to the living room, Iggi walked, still along side his owner.

Yugi rolled his eyes. _He really is tired. Well, this is the first.' _He slipped his shoes off and placed the leash back into the closet before making his way towards the stairs. Iggi had decided to go to the kitchen to get something to drink.

"I just hope Leo knows how to do the homework," Yugi muttered to himself, letting his mind wonder. he made it up the stairs and walked over to his room and flipped the light on, even though he didn't really need it. "It took me a while to get it done, and knowing Leo, it might take him all night to finish it. He doesn't really like to pay attention in class. Which is probably why he didn't write down the assignment." He reached his desk where he left his backpack and started to search for the history pages.

"Science... Math... Ah-ha! History!" Yugi found the pages and pulled it out and brought out his phone. He quickly text-ed his friend the page numbers and which numbers to do. After he clicked 'Send' he was just about to gather his homework and put it back into his back when he heard a creak coming from the door of his room. Not really thinking anything of it, he called, "'Bout time you made it up here, boy." he said, referring to Iggi.

"Ah hem," Someone cleared their throat, causing Yugi to stiffen. Yugi couldn't really do that, could he? He would always bark in reply and walk over to him. But this? This was a bit deeper than what a dog could manage.

Quickly, Yugi spun on the heel of his foot and faced the person in his room. Who he saw was not who he expected. Not at all.

"What're you doing here?" He demanded, trying to show anger instead of what he really felt; fear.

"I came to see you, I thought that's what fathers did." Chokichi smiled, leaning against the wood of the door frame. He was dressed in another suit, but this color black.

Yugi tried to keep it cool as he said, "I meant, how did you get in here? I didn't invite you."

He watched his father softly laugh and his blue eyes piercing his. "You should know when to lock the door. And, I think you may have forgotten, I used to live here."

"Yeah, _used _too. Which means not anymore." Yugi narrowed his eyes, feeling anger cloud his mind and keeping him from acting like himself. "And just because I didn't lock the door, doesn't mean you can just walk in. Someone has to invite you."

Chokichi just shook his head. "What happened to that bright young child I talked to just yesterday? He never acted like this." He didn't give Yugi any time to answer as he said, "I came here because I wanted to talk. You left in such a hurry, I didn't get to say all I wanted."

Yugi thought about it, wondering what he could possible want to say. He was about to send some kind of message to Atem, since he made a pinky promise that he would have someone with him when he was with his dad, but, he paused. Something in him told him not to send anything yet and hear the man out.

Yugi weighed the options before saying, "Alright, what do want?"

The man before him smiled in a way that gave Yugi goosebumps. "What, not going to offer me a seat? Rather rude." But his son didn't move except for crossing his arms against his chest. Chokichi rolled his shoulders back and looked around the room, noticing all of the posters and pictures. As he looked around, he said, "I've been thinking about what I said to you yesterday." He started off, leaving Yugi to wonder if he had changed his mind. But, as quickly as that thought came, it was quickly dismissed as he said, "I was being nice when I told you. It was like an offer, but one you have to take, no other ways. I had told myself that if you and your mom didn't come nice and quietly, then I would have to take you by force."

Now was feeling like a good time to call for Atem. But still, Yugi didn't. Where was he going with this? He thought to himself but stayed as still as a brick.

"I talked to your mom today," He suddenly said, noticing a flicked of surprise cross the young boys face. He turned back to face him. "While we were talking, she decided that she would be coming back with me. We'll be leaving at the end of this week, or hopefully sooner."

Yugi felt his face drain of all color. His mother was _what? _She couldn't leave with him! She even told him and Grandpa and Atem that she was staying there. How...

Trying to regain his posture, Yugi cleared his throat and said in a small voice, "How did you...?"

"How did I convince her?" Chokichi asked with a sly grin. "Well, I didn't have to say much. She's the one who decided on her own free will. If you don't believe me, just call her up." He waited like he was expecting his son to pull his phone out and call his mom up. But when Yugi didn't move, he continued, "But don't worry, you'll still be able to stay with her; you're coming too. I can't leave my only son out."

"What? I'm n-not y-your only-,"

"Oh shut up about that shit," Yugi flinched as his father went from a normal, calm tone to a harsh annoyed one. "You lie like a three year old. I know I only had one son, not two. Did you really expect me to think I had two? I was there when your mom gave birth. I'm not stupid,"

"I didn't s-say you -,"

Chokichi cut him off, "You don't have too, it's written all over your face. You disgust me." He spat, turning into a whole new character. "I can't believe we're related. You would think I would have a smarter son, not one who's all goodie-goodie. It's probably because you weren't abused enough when you were younger. That's always what happens; they act like they are all sweet and can get away with anything. God, I hate kids."

Yugi felt numb, like his tongue was swollen inside his mouth so he couldn't speak. His father was different. One minute he was acting some what nice and okay, and the next, like a bully Yugi had once encountered with. That bully was always telling him he was worthless and stuff like that. Whenever he talked, his victims were always stiff with fear. This was how Yugi was.

Trying to be stronger, like how Atem had taught him, Yugi opened his mouth to say something, but his father never let him. He continued, "You are so worthless. It's a good thing I left when I had the chance. I would have been embarrassed if someone knew you were my son!"

He kept talking, talking about how his friend's sons were all buff and could fight and could stand up for themselves.

Yugi took a deep breath before whispering, "Shut up..."

Chokichi paused. He frowned and wrinkled his nose. He sort of leaned forward like he didn't quite hear him, even though he did. "What did you say?" He took a step forward in the room and then another.

"Y-you heard me." Yugi responded, trying to stay calm when his insides were screaming to shut up. He stood his ground, even though his father was coming closer and closer. He swallowed the lump that formed in his throat.

"Oh, I'm sure I did. But, are you sure you want to say that?" He threatened. He was half way in the room. "You should show some respect towards your elders, especially when they are your father."

"Why?" Yugi demanded. "If y-you want me to show you some respect, show me some first. Don't think you'll gain it just because you're my father." Wow, he felt bad-ass. His father was now three-fourths in the room. Just a few more steps and he would be looking down at his son. "I don't appreciate you coming into my home and in-insulting me. I would like you to leave. Please." He added, so he didn't forget his manners.

"Oh, are you asking me to leave?" He asked in a mocking, sarcastic voice. He was now standing in front of his son and looked at him with glaring eyes. "I don't really think you have that authority, not in the position your in."

Before Yugi could ask what he was about to do, Chokichi grabbed his son by the front of the shirt and lifted him up so that his feet dangled a inch or two off the ground. "W-what are you doing?" Yugi squeaked as his eyes doubled in size. He lost all courage and his arms dropped to his side, or in this case, grabbed a hold of his father's wrists.

"Teaching you a lesson." He simply answered. "Apparently those bullies in your school didn't teach you enough." When his son gasped, he sneered. "Yes, I went snooping through your school records to find out more about you. You were beaten up quite a lot when you were younger, so this shouldn't be anything new." He pulled his free fist back and punched Yugi in the stomach with much force to cause him to double over.

"I want you to know, you are coming back with me whether you want to or not." He put his mouth to his son's ear and whispered. "As much as I hate you and your mother, I need you." He pulled back and punched Yugi again.

All of the air was knocked out of Yugi's body as the excruciating pain filled him. He couldn't believe his father was punching him! He wouldn't have ever picture it! He couldn't say anything so his father did all of the talking. While he did, Yugi tried to regain his breathing.

"Do you want to know how I got your mom to come with me?" He asked. He didn't wait for an answer as he said, "I told her that if she didn't, then one of her son's will be killed. She panicked at that. At first, she didn't know whether to believe me, but, I gave her a minute, and she knew I wasn't lying." Yugi could almost picture him smiling. "And do you know how I'm going to get you to come back with me without needing to force you?"

Yugi didn't say anything, already guessing the outcome.

"I'll kill one of your friends."

"You... don't know my friends!" He managed to say.

"Oh, don't I?" Chokichi threw his son across the room so that he landed on his bed. "Do the names Joey Wheeler, Tristan Taylor, Ryou Bakura and Tea Gardener ring a bell?" His son managed to rise to his hands and knees and when he did, he saw him freeze on the spot. "And I also know Ms. Gardener is your girlfriend. School records do tell a lot about a person."

Yugi looked up and glared, "Leave them alone! They have nothing to do with this!"

Chokichi smiled and slowly shook his head like to a kid who was getting punished. "Oh Yugi, you have much to learn." He started to walk towards him. "If you do what I ask you to do, then nothing will happen to them. All I ask is to pack your bags." He reached the bed, where Yugi never moved. He crouched down so that they were eye level. "You understand, don't you?"

All the King of Games could do was glare at him. "Why do you want me to go with you?" He asked.

The older man sighed. "Just personal business." He stood back up and grabbed his son by the collar and hoisted him up from the bed. Yugi fell and landed on the ground. "Hurry up and stand. Don't you have somewhere you're supposed to be?"

Yugi took his time getting to his feet, wondering how his father knew that. But he didn't question him. He probably had his ways since he was able to look into school's profile which isn't viewable to outsiders.

Without waiting to say anything, Chokichi gestured his son towards the door. Yugi looked over and then back to the man, wishing he could run out and pretending this wasn't happening. But, of course it was, so he walked towards the entrance of his room.

While they were walking, Chokichi said in his normal voice, "Oh, and I don't expect you to repeat any of this. Just remember about your friends; their life is in your hands." He said. "And don't think about telling that _brother _of yours. This is our little secret."

Yugi couldn't get way his father said 'brother' out of his mind. He said it with such venom and with a hint of sneer that it would of left you wondering about many things.

They took a right once they exited the room and were nearing the stairs. When Yugi got to the first step, he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. He didn't even have time to look behind himself to see what his father was about to do, when he felt the shove and tripped.

Chokichi stood at the top of the stairs, watching his son fall and tumble down the steps. He just stood there, smiling at what he just did. When his son made it to the bottom of the steps, he laid there in a heap, moaning. He didn't move much and didn't get up.

Satisfied, he took his time walking down the steps, all the while saying, "Now, if any one asks about the bruises on your stomach, you can just say you fell down the stairs." At the last step, he looked down and noticed his son trying to keep conscious. "You better get up or you'll be late to meet your friends." Was all he said when he walked past him and towards the door. Then, at last minute, he threw over his shoulder, "I'll be back tomorrow. I better see you start packing or you'll be getting a few more bruised body parts." And then he left.

XxxxX

"Man, that sucks." Joey complained. Right when they made it to the pizza parlor, they found out that it was closed for redecoration. They walked all that way for nothing. Now, they were walking back to the game shop.

Tristan nodded. "Yeah that does. I was really looking forward to it too!" He sighed.

Lyla was about to agree when she felt her phone go off. She pulled it out and flipped it open, noticing she had a text. As she read it, her shoulders hunched a bit. Of course Atem noticed.

"What's wrong?"

"I have to go home now." She announced, shutting her phone. She rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders. "Parents are wondering where I am and since it's a school day tomorrow, I have to get home and get ready for it."

Ryou looked down at his watch and noticed the time. "Oh, I have to go too."

Tristan looked at the other two before nodding. "Well, now that you mention it being a school night, I got to get home. Man, school ruins everything for us. I can't wait till summer!"

Tea rolled her eyes. "Well, you still have four months of waiting." That gained a few groans. She smiled and then looked around. She frowned and then asked, "Hey, didn't Yugi say he'll meet us over here?" She looked around the shop for her boyfriend but didn't find him anywhere.

Atem then noticed his brother's absence.

"Well," Lyla commented, "you do have to remember he had to go home and then have to come over here. It does take a lot longer than coming here from the park."

"Yeah, but not that much longer," Joey said. "Nah, don't worry about it. He's probably just taking his time," he wasn't worried as he stretched his arms over his head. "But, tell him I said bye and see you at school."

"Same here." Tristan added. "And we'll meet up some other time for pizza."

Everyone said their good byes and soon, it was just Atem and Tea alone. Tea was biting her lip like she thought something was wrong. Atem wasn't in much better shape.

After about a minute of waiting, Tea sighed and said, "Well, tell him I'll see him tomorrow. He probably just got stuck at the house with Leo wanting an explanation." Though she didn't really believe it. Her mind was going a hundred miles per hour, thinking her boyfriend got hurt or something.

Atem nodded. Despite his own worry, he took once glance at his brothers girlfriend and said, "Don't worry about it, he's probably fine. Well, be safe going home and I'll tell Yugi that he owes you an explanation."

That made her smile and roll her eyes. "How 'bout you just tell him to text me when he gets the chance. And you be careful going home too. Bye!" She turned around and started to walk home, leaving Atem to stand there alone, pondering on what was keeping his partner.

Finally, he decided to go back home.

XxxxX

He felt sore all over except for his side. From past experiences, he knew that he really bruised a rib or cracked it. But, that didn't mean he could just lie in the middle of the walk-way so he decided to move. Using a lot of strength, he got to his knees. He gripped his aching side but knew he had to keep moving.

'_He's not going to like this,' _He thought, knowing he broke his promise to Atem. He should have told his brother, or sent him a message, saying that he needed to get home. Why he didn't, he didn't know. But now, he knew he couldn't tell Atem that his father had visited him. Not because he was afraid too, but because of the threat his father made.

Using the wall to support his weight, he stood up and started to slowly walk towards the living room to lay on the couch.

As he was passing a small closet that no one in the house used, it was there for... well, it didn't really have a reason, it was just an empty closet, he heard a muffled noise. Like, a bark or something. Curious, Yugi stopped and opened the door. What he found made his blood boil.

Iggi was inside, scratching at the door. He looked frightened, mad, and on alert. When the door had opened, he was about to charge out and attack whoever was in front of him, but stopped when he noticed his owner. He whined and than started to look around.

"S'all right, boy," Yugi mumbled, knowing that he couldn't bend down to pet him and to sooth him, it would hurt to much. "He's gone..."

Iggi stopped looking and noticed Yugi's voice. Full of... was that pain? He whined again and then felt a growl coming up.

Yugi shook his head. He then closed the door behind his dog and continued to walk towards the living room. As he walked, Iggi was behind him, looking all around him like he was protecting his best friend from anything that moved.

'_I can't believe he locked my dog up!' _Yugi mentally growled. He was at the couch and sat down. Slowly. He noticed his dog and rolled his eyes. He whistled and patted the spot right next to him. "C'mon, boy. It's alright."

Iggi sniffed the air before joining him on the couch. He laid down with his head resting on Yugi's leg. Even with his owner petting him, he didn't relax his tense posture.

Yugi leaned back into the couch and closed his eyes. He was hurting, but at least it wasn't that bad. '_And just when my old bruises were fading!' _He thought.

What felt like only seconds laying on the couch was really minutes. The next thing he knew was feeling a hand fly out of nowhere and land on his forehead.

Scared, Yugi's eyes flashed opened and he was about to jump when he noticed who was next to him. "Oh, A-atem." He said weakly, his heart racing in his chest.

"You alright, aibou?" He asked, concern clearly showing.

Yugi nodded. "Y-yeah." He shook his brothers hand off his head and looked around. "Where is everyone?" He noticed the quietness. "I thought we were going to the pizza place." Then he felt guilty about going to the couch instead of the place.

Atem watched his partner closely as he shook his head. "It's closed. But, why are you laying on the couch?" He asked.

"Uh..." Yugi swallowed. "I... fell down the stairs." He admitted. He saw the alarm in his protectors eyes and continued before he could ask anything, "I-it was my fault. I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking and I slipped. I think I bruised my rib." He groaned and laid his head back. At least he didn't lie to much, just didn't tell all of the truth. He bit the inside of his cheek, wondering why he didn't tell Atem the whole truth.

XxxxX

Till next time and whoa, loong chapter! 26 pages! The most I ever wrote! ! ^^ And y'all made me feel better/ happier. Just so you know, y'all are the best readers a author could ever have!

Lisa: Yuck, you're being sappy again!

I know! But, it's 100% true! Oh, and just so you know, please don't hate me! I thought that Lyla would be an adorable choice for Atem. ^^

1.) And proud of it! ^^ My mom's the youngest of nine and I'm the youngest of all the grand kids. So awesome! (But, there's more than just grand kids... way to much. I can't remember them all, but I know there are two great, great grand-kids. :o)

Anyways, on to the reviews!

**DarkHeartInTheSky: **Mmmhmm! Foreshadowing the future! (I felt so dumb, I had to ask my sister what that meant AGAIN. ..This time, she explained it to me to where I can remember. I feel so proud of myself,) And, I hope this chapter satisfy your needs a little. Make up for the other chapters!

Thanks! I haven't really noticed yet... But, I do feel like I'm improving! Makes me happy and surprisingly giddy inside that you mentioned that. I don't know why, but yay!

Lisa: :o ooooh, I think we should change his name to Chikorita! That does make sense!

... DarkHeart already explained that it's a Pokemon. And anyways, I finally just got used to spelling his name. I can't change it!

**fangirl: **Oh, sorry! But, I hope this chapter made up for it! I didn't realize I as getting slow with the plot, and you don't have to be sorry. Thanks for admitting it! I'll try to be better with the plot! And, thanks. Makes me happy and giddy when people say that!

**AnzuFan: **And that's not all he would get! Yugi's friends will kick his butt back to the US and then people's yami's will go crazy trying to kill him!

Lisa: So true! I won't allow someone to lay their finger on Yugi!

**Couldn'tThinkOfaName: **Yes, yes it was. I kept wanting to erase all of the repeating, but then I had to keep thinking to myself, 'What will I write instead?' so I left it alone. :/ It was very hard. x.x And yay! Good for me not being kidnapped! That, and Lisa wouldn't let anything happen. I love her being my protector!

Lisa:... Ignoring that comment.

^^But, OMG! You love Percy Jackson too? o.o You have great taste! XD My advice for you, if some one does get annoyed with your super, awesome long reviews, just ignore them. They are just jealous that they didn't get it! As much fun as you have writing them, I have much fun reading them! And, sometimes I have to show my sister! Then, after she reads them, she get's giddy. Hehehe. And it _is _amazing! I still find it hard to believe that people from like Germany are reading my story! (Which, I found out some one did and felt awesome!) It truly is amazing! ^^ And yup, Yugi did pinky swear...

Lisa: But, it wasn't his fault!

I know... But still ^^ Oh, What you said about the writers block... I am So going to print that out. That, right there, is what I need for my other stories I have (like 5) and it's all because of writers block I can't think of anything. But, thanks.. I will take your advice! And as for Bakura, I can't wait to write that. God of Ra, I am itching to write it! I think y'all will be most surprised! XD And, okie dokie! Thanks for the heads up. Have fun in the other state! -Thinks- yay! Big review!

Lisa: Hey, I have a request for you... well, I don't really know if it is a request.. more like a suggestion? Hm.. I don't know. But, you should try getting an account on here! We just notice that you read a lot, and I don't know... …. -.- eh?

That is if you want to. I have always been wondering how you kept up with all of the chapter updates. It just surprises me. ^^ Till next time! (And another long review! XD And I just realized I always give you long replies!)


	12. I Didn't Tell!

Something fun and random! ^^

Yugi: Tea... Could you read me the story about that bunny?

Tea: I'm going to pretend that's the concussion talking and forget all about it...

Reviews: And Thought I'd just change it around. ^^ Don't like to always be the same.

**Mr. Mezel:** Aw, thank you! ^^ That means a lot, and that's okay if you feel shy; everyone's different. But, at least you reviewed on this at least! Yay! And sorry, never heard of it, lol. And... Sorry, in my story, this one to be exact, Yami, AKA Atem, is having a normal life. You can't expect him to be single for the rest of his life, do you? He has a new chance at life, and needs to date someone. (I don't like yoai either, and I think I spell it differently every time...) And why I chose him dating Lyla, is because she's going to be a very important character in the story. I can't say anything else because I don't want to spoil anything, but yeah. I'm sorry, truly, but Lyla is important, and I can't just have Atem be single for the rest of his life. But, besides all of that, I had someone request that Atem start dating someone. They didn't say who, but they wanted him to be. :/ But I appreciate you saying something about it! I really do!

And as for why it's taking so long, well... I just needed a week off, to recollect my thoughts. XD

**Couldn'tThinkOfaName: ** I been inside an airport, but only to wait for my siblings... otherwise, I don't know what they're like. I've never even rode in a airplane before. ;/ And don't worry; you're reviewing now. Hehe. I will go fix those errors, that is if I can find them. XD

Lisa: Which she probably won't. She'll need my expert-ts!

Pssh, on what? Never mind... And Don't worry, I will. To be honest, I was going to do that, but it would be kind of hard. Atem being in the Mortal realm and Mana in the Afterlife. I couldn't just have God of Ra give her her own body. It wouldn't be right, you know? But, they still like each other!

Lisa: Which, don't worry, she'll add a chapter on that subject. Or else!

Else what? Try hurting me, and then no one will ever know! Answering your questions, no! You do not have to pay! It's as free as free can get! XD Um.. you really decide on what info you want to give. Like, they'll ask you for a pen name, which you already have one (and I still love. So happy you won't be changing it!) Um... your e-mail and a password... That's pretty much it.. You only add info if you want to. (If I remember correctly but I'm pretty sure I am) It's rather simple and easy.! ^^

Bakura...

Lisa: Hehehehe. We'll never tell!

That, is very true! Just have to keep reading!

**Kissara: **Uh.. -coughs-

Lisa: About that... .

To be honest, I am having Yugi keep the money, for like college, but I will also have him donate stuff. And also, during the time Atem was in the Afterlife, I had Yugi like participate in duels. Though, I never mentioned it... I feel stupid... I'll try to mention it! Sorry bout that! But yeah, I'll explain that when I get the chance!

Lisa: Chokichi will never find that out! Ever, you got that!

Hey! Be nice! And hm... I do not know if he will...

Lisa: Also, Atem ain't pretending! It's the real deal!

Be nice! Don't yell at my readers! But yeah, he will definitely get what he deserves! XD Thanks for reading!

**AnzuFan: **XD! Yay! I'm glad! And Atem with and OC, yeah, I haven't seen much of those myself... So yup! ^6^ All I can say is you will find out everything! The reactions and what not. And sorry if this came a little late. I have been trying to think of some really fun/good scenes.

**fangirl: **:D Yay! And this chapter shouldn't be that bad either. So bare with me, XD I'm glad you like it!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Just like how I say it every time! **

Chapter Eleven:

_Beep Beep Beep Beep_

Groggily, Yugi opened his eyes and looked around to try and find that annoying alarm clock of his. It took him a minute, even though it was in the same place as always, but he just felt so tired, he was having trouble trying to locate it. As he lifted his arm from under his warm covers to turn the damn thing off, pain came out of nowhere and made itself known in his chest.

"Nn," he mumbled, not liking the feeling at all. It hurt to move his arm anywhere and it even hurt to breathe. '_I guess I really _did _fracture my rib.' _He thought, turning the alarm off as fast as he could so he didn't have to listen to it anymore.

He stayed laying down on his bed and took a small breath through his nose and tried not to wince. Of course that didn't help much since the pain was the same.

He stared up at the ceiling for a few minutes, debating if he should go to school today or stay home. True, he needed to find out if he had passed the Math test from yesterday so that he wouldn't fail for this six weeks, but, he could always do it tomorrow.

'_But, if I stay home, then he might show up and bad stuff might happen...' _Yugi thought, his mind switching to the encounter with his father last night. He was the only one at home at the time, and his father had trapped him. If he'd stay home from school today, there would be a ninety percent chance he would show up again. Though, Grandpa would have to leave the shop... do more like a sixty percent chance he would come.

His side started to hurt a little. '_I think I would rather go to school, just in case.' _He thought and as slowly as his body would allow him, swung his legs over the side of the bed to the floor. He sat up and did an intake of oxygen to try to calm the pain. '_It's been so long since I broke or cracked a rib, my brain is resulting the pain to hurt more,' _

Yugi groaned inward as he remembered always being beaten up by bullies. He would always be black and blue with some broken bones, but it happened so often, the pain didn't hurt as much as it was supposed to. Now, it felt normal. Yay...

Getting to his feet wasn't so bad since he was just standing still. He rubbed his eyes, ignored the sting, and let out a small yawn. Time to get ready for the day since he was already out of bed. He slowly walked over to his closet and brought out his school uniform and other things he would need and made his way over to the door. As he was walking there, he noticed that his door was opened a crack and then realized who was missing.

"Guess Iggi got hungry and let himself out," he mumbled. "And I guess Atem forgot to close my door all the way when he brought me up here." Last night, Yugi didn't feel like getting up off the couch to go upstairs for bed. He told everyone that he was just going to sleep downstairs when Atem had scooped him up into his arms and carried him up to his room.

"Let me go!" He had whined, feeling lazy.

Atem rolled his eyes, "I will when you're up in your room." He said. "But, you're not sleeping on that couch. You have school tomorrow."

"So?" Yugi pouted, very much acting like a little kid. His brother started to walk up the stairs. "I've slept downstairs before, 'specially on a school night."

"Oh well." When Atem had set Yugi on his bed, he started to walk out and called over his shoulder, "I only did it because I couldn't when I was still locked inside the Millennium Puzzle." Meaning, a few times, Yugi had got hurt and Atem/ Yami couldn't do anything about it.

Yugi nodded, quiet, and watched his other half close his door and said a goodnight.

He shook his head, coming back from his memories and grabbed the handle of the door. Just as he was opening it, he heard a loud Ku-_thump coming from the stairs._ Then a loud, "Ow."

Curious, Yugi walked over to the stairs and hopped down three of them and raised an eyebrow. Atem was in a heap at the bottom of the steps, looking annoyed.

The older one looked to the stairs, trying to find out what caused his to trip. When he caught the sight of black, brown, and white, he groaned and said, "Yugi, don't sleep on the stairs!"

"But I didn't." Said name argued back, still at the top of the steps.

Atem blinked, then looked up to where his Light was standing with his clothes in his hands and a confused look on his face. He then looked back to the multi-colored dog on the stairs, now just raising it's head from all of the commotion.

Iggi yawned and stretched it's paws before looking sleepily to Atem. He bark and got to his paws.

"Oh, I am going to kill you," The ancient pharaoh sworn, looking the pup straight in the eyes. The dog's eyes widen as he understood what the human said, and twirled on the stairs, running up it.

"Sorry, aibou," Atem apologized, and got to his feet. "Two innocent, great minds think alike." He said, and muttered something about 'Why sleep in the middle of the stairs? Second time that has happened!'

Yugi couldn't help but smile and looked down to where his dog was hiding behind his leg. Even though the beagle was more than ten months old, yes that old, he was getting too big to continue hiding behind his leg. "Oh Iggi," he chuckled and knelt down to scratch his ear, "You're too big to sleep on the stairs now."

"Arf!"

"Yeah yeah, just don't do it again, I don't know what Atem is planning for you," he said in a half serious, half playful tone. He stood back up and with his dog following behind him, went to the bathroom to take a shower.

"Guard the door, bud," Yugi smiled as Iggi sat down by the door and looked up at his with those blue eyes. He received a bark so he closed the door with a soft click. When he turned around, he turned the light on and set his clothes down on the counter.

He only stripped his shirt off and had to stop himself from gasping when his gaze went to the mirror. The left side of his chest, right where his ribs were, was a good shape of purple. He felt a sudden urge to poke the different color, but decided against it, since it would be painful. His gaze went down and noticed that his stomach wasn't looking much better. His old bruise was yellow and was slowly disappearing, but there was a new bruise there. It was also purple but with some blue added to it. In all, it was about the size of a coconut, if you had to compare it to something.

"Great, just great," Yugi grumbled at the sight. He opened the mirror window to the medicine cabinet and scanned all of the medicine until he found the small bottle of Advil. He opened it and took two pills dry before proceeding in taking his shower.

XxxxX

"You know, it's strange," Atem commented as he and Yugi were walking to school; everything at home being done.

"What's strange?" Yugi asked and looked over to him. He held onto the straps of his bag, just to do something with his hands.

"Well, I haven't seen mom since the day before yesterday. I know she comes home late and everything, but we would at least see her in the mornings or something."

Yugi felt a bead of sweat trickle down the back of his neck. "Oh, uh, yeah. That is weird." He quickly looked away. His thoughts started to go into motion as he the conversation he had with his father yesterday popped up. '_Could it be because dad visited her yesterday? Did he do something to her?' _He started to panic silently. '_What did he do to make mom agree to go with him?'_

All the while, he forgot about his brother and his surroundings. It wasn't until he felt a gentle, yet firm slap on his head that he blinked and flinched away.

"Yo, Yuge, whatcha thinking about?" Joey asked, with a cocky grin. Of course, leave it to Joey to bring someone back to reality.

Yugi faked a smile and shrugged. "Just some stuff. Nothing interesting though," he lied and realized that everyone had gathered, minus Tristan. "Hey, where's Tristan?"

Tea took his hand and said, "He's probably just running late. Should we wait for him?"

Joey shook his head. "Nah, he told me that he had to do something this morning and that he would find his own way to school." He shrugged before he walked over to Atem and slung his arm around his shoulders. "I guess it's just you and me today, bud."

Atem rolled his eyes and pushed him away. "What about Yugi and Tea?"

"Aw, they have each other, we don't need them." He waved his hand at them like he was waving them off and slung his arm around Atem again, ignoring the protest grumbling from the him.

"Gee, thanks," Tea muttered. "We feel so appreshiated."

Yugi squeezed her hand and smiled.

For the rest of the morning, the gang went through their activities. They were together during their homeroom class, which they just sat around and talked. Tristan had shown up a little late because he had to take care of his sick little sister until his mom came back home to take care of her. When class had ended, they went off to P.E. And luckily for them, they all had the same class together.

"Alright, everyone has been signed a partner and will be counted off in pairs!" Coach Prison said. He was a beefy man and was from America. He would always talk about it and said that he was involved in a sport called American Football, that's why he was so big and strong. He blew his whistle and directed all of the students to the different areas of the gym's playing field.

It all had sucked. Atem was paired up with Joey, Tristan with Ryou, and Tea was partnered off with a girl named Suzie. Poor Yugi was paired up with with a guy named Toby. The kid was nice and all, but the suck-y part was that all of his friends were in the same area while he was on the opposite side.

Tea and Suzie and half of the girls were off playing volleyball in the volleyball pits while half of the guys were lifting weights outside. The other half of the guys and girls were running track. Yugi, just so happened to be running... though at this moment, he was talking to the coach.

"You don't understand, I can't run," He told the older man. His partner, Toby was right next to him, chilling and looked happy because he didn't have to run just yet.

Coach Prison looked down at Yugi and through his sunglasses, his brown eyes started to scan the teen for any leg injuries. When he didn't find anything, he barked out like a military captain, "Your legs don't look broken, Mutou. If I were you, I would suggest getting my butt out on that track and start running!"

Yugi bit his tongue in annoyance. Man, this coach never listened. "I didn't say my legs were the problem." Even though annoyed, he kept his calm and acted like his normal, sweet innocent self.

"Then what is it?"

"I uh... cracked my rib yesterday and it's hurts to even walk..." he mumbled, feeling sightly embarrassed by having to sound so weak.

Toby looked over to his partner with a look of sympathy but stayed quiet.

The coach, however, didn't hold any emotion, "I don't see a doctors note and you clearly ain't in pain." He crossed his arms against his chest.

"Just because I'm not showing it, doesn't mean I am not in it. And I never got any time to visit a doctor." And I'm not going to because all they would say is put some ice on it, do not wrap my chest in anything because it would make breathing hard, and take some Advil. No point in going.

"Well, too damn bad, Mutou." He grunted and looked back to survey the track. "I know you're trying to make up an excuse to get out of running. And you really suck at it."

"But I'm not making up an ex-,"

"I don't care; get out there and start running or I'll make you run extra." Then he looked back over and added, "And your partner."

Toby slightly paled. Everyone knew how much he hated running, even though he was good at it. He looked at Yugi and gently guided him away from the mean coach. "Sorry, Yugi. But, I rather not have to run any extra laps," and he truly looked sorry.

Yugi waved the apology off, "Don't worry, I understand. But, I seriously can't run." On the inside, he felt like he wanted to scream. Kind of. He hated when the coach never listened to him, especially that coach. He never held a grudge hate him... just got annoyed with him. The only time they believe him was when he got hurt again and/or he showed the coach the bruise, which was never often. But, this time, he couldn't show the bruise on his ribs because then he would have to show the other bruise on his stomach. Which he wasn't going to do.

Not a heartbeat later, Yugi felt something different brush the insides of his mind. It felt like someone was concern.

Replying back, Yugi sent back an 'I'm okay,' to Atem who had felt his feelings about being mad at the coach.

"So, how exactly did you bruise your ribs?" Toby asked as they slowly started to walk on to the track and away from the coach.

Yugi shrugged, "I uh... fell down the stairs." His partner's eyes doubled. "Yeah, I can be a klutz at times..." Though that was very true. He tried to breath through his nose like normal. But it wasn't really working for him. His side had been hurting all morning, and now it felt worse, like it was on fire. Probably because he was in gym. "I run in to a lot of things especially poles, so falling down the stairs really isn't a surprise for me..."

Luckily, the King of Games was getting a bit better at lying so Toby couldn't tell. He nodded his head and looked ahead of himself, watching as their classmates ran past them, sweating up a storm. "Are you taking anything for the bruise... thing?" He asked, just to be nice.

"Yeah... all I can take is Advil... If I went to the doctors, they would prescribe something stronger, but I rather not. It'll heal with given amount of time."

They hadn't even been walking for very long when they heard the coach yell at them to start running. Toby and Yugi both looked back and bit their cheeks.

"I just wish he would listen..." Yugi mumbled under his breath.

They looked back forward and ignored the yelling man. But, just as they turned back, they heard a squeal coming from one of the girls. Though, this was common. Probably a guy chasing a girl. But, what they didn't know, was that as the couple were chasing each other, they were running straight towards the walking companions.

"Excuse me!" The girl giggled as she ran past Yugi.

He watched her and then the hair on the back of his neck rose as he felt the chaser running right next to him. It felt like it all happened in slow motion. Yugi barely turned his head towards the male, and right as he did, the male had bumped into Yugi.

"Sorry!" He called over his shoulder and continued to chase the girl.

Yugi, on the other hand, felt his side explode in pain. Of course someone had to bump into his wounded side... Of course. He let out a squeak of pain and felt his legs wobble underneath him.

"Yugi?" Toby's voice suddenly sounded rather close and full of concern, "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah..." was his reply. "Just hurts... a lot..."

"Okay. Let's uh... walk over to the coach now. Maybe he'll send you to the nurse." Toby saw a small nod from his partner and saw his face twisted in pain. Not knowing what else to do, he got on the left side of Yugi and took his arm and slung it around his neck. "I doubt you can walk on your own..." And he held on to the arm as they turned around and started to walk back to the coach.

XxxxX

"Why couldn't I be on the other half?" Ryou sighed, "I hate lifting weights; I'm not good at it." He was lying down on bench as he got ready to take the bar into his hands and start lifting it.

Standing behind the bench and watching him, was Tristan. He rolled his eyes, "You're going to have to do it at some time, you know,"

"Yes, I know... but I rather be running than lifting... weights," he lifted the ten pound weight up over his chest with ease and slowly brought it back down to his chest. "And, why did they pick today of all days to bring the weights outside?"

"Dude, you are just like Yugi," Joey commented with a chuckle as he was on the bench next to his silver haired friend, lifting a much heavier bar. "He complains a lot too, 'specially... when we're... in gym."

Ryou looked over to the blond as he rested the bar a inch over his chest and stuck his tongue out. "Not my fault. We both are more of book worms!"

"Heh, no kidding," Tristan shook his head. His partner turned his head back and did the same to Tristan as he did to Joey.

Atem just rolled his eyes at them. He was watching Joey continue to lift his bar with ease as though it was one of the lightest things in the world, even though the bar weighed a little more than fifty pounds. He was staying quiet, just not really in the mood to talk, for some odd reason. But, as he stayed quiet, enjoying his friends talking, he felt a small bundle of anger brush up against him, like it was in the inside of him. He immediately knew who it was and looked up and across the field. His brother was talking to the coach, and it looked like he was losing on whatever he was wanting.

He sent a 'Are you okay?' vibe to him and in a few seconds felt another emotion. This one was calm and slightly annoyed. Then, a moment or two later, he watched as Yugi and his partner walked away from the coach, more annoyed than ever. They slowly started to just walk the track.

Turning back to his friends, he noticed that Ryou had given up after benching seven and switched positions with his partner. Instead of only lifting a ten pound-er, Tristan switched it to having twenty-five on both sides. When he started to lift, Joey was getting done benching almost forty-five.

"Does any one know what the cafeteria is serving today?" Joey randomly asked as Atem helped him put the bar back on it's holder before sitting up, sweat staining the front of his shirt from the heat.

"Your head is always wrapped around your stomach," Ryou shook his head but smiled. "I think it's just sandwiches today."

"What do you expect?" Joey rolled his eyes and switched places when his partner. "Food is my main priority!" Then he smiled real big.

Atem switched the weight to forty pounds, taking the five pounds off of each side before laying down and gripped the bar. "Of course it is." He smiled and, with the help of his blond friend, lifted the bar up and slowly brought it down.

Tristan titled his head towards Joey. "I heard that tomorrow they are making enchilada's!" He had that look upon his face that he couldn't wait.

"Aw, hell yeah!"

About halfway to his fifth lifting, Atem felt something start stinging in his left side. "Err," he was on his way down when the bar was about to slip from his grasp and would have landed on top of his chest, if Joey hadn't been paying attention.

"Whoa, there," the blond caught the weight and together, the two brought it back up to it's holder. Tristan paused and looked over to see what was going on. "What's up?"

"I don't know," Atem frowned and sat up, his hand brushing his side. "Felt this random pain in my side."

"Maybe you were lifting too much?" Ryou said. He helped his partner put the weight back in it's holder, taking a minute for a pause.

He shook his head. "It wasn't that. Something more like...-,"

"Hey, what's up with Yuge?" Joey suddenly said out of the blue.

Three heads turn to the blond as Tristan raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Joey pointed to where Yugi was walking back over to the coach, leaning on his partner like he was injured. The three heads turned and saw what the food-hungry guy was talking about.

"Is he okay?" Ryou wondered out loud.

That's when it hit Atem. "It must be his rib," He said, forgetting that his friends didn't know anything about it.

"What's wrong with his rib?" Tristan asked, now frowning. His thoughts lead him to a certain bully that rhymed with Annie, but was a guy. He sat up.

The older brother shook his head, "Not what you're thinking. He just fell down the stairs yesterday evening. I found his on the couch, passed out when I came home."

Joey narrowed his eyes, "Are you sure he fell?" Like Tristan, his thoughts lead him elsewhere. He loved his best friend to death, but Yugi had been lying a lot the past month, and he just wanted to make sure it wasn't someone messing with him again.

"I think so." Atem nodded like he was trying to reassure himself. "I couldn't tell if he was lying or telling the truth, so I just took it for the truth."

"Maybe he closed the link off?" Ryou suggested.

"Can you do that?" Atem asked. Instead of having the mind link, where he knew he could close it, the emotion connection, he was still trying to get used to. He never tried to close it off, just in case, so he never really thought about it.

"It worked for the mind connection, right? It probably can do the same for this one. I wouldn't really know since Bakura and I don't have any kind of links."

They continued to watch their smaller friend walk back over to the coach and then start talking with him.

After pondering the idea, Atem shook his head, "No, I think Yugi is telling the truth. He can be a klutz at times. I was thinking it was Iggi who caused him to fall down." When he got many weird stares from his friends, he quickly explained, "I fell down the remaining steps this morning because Iggi thought the stairs was a nice place to take a nap. I think Iggi was just tired after you three played with him so he was resting on the steps."

Two of the three smirked as they both pictured the pharaoh falling down the stairs. The other, more mature one nodded. "Does seem likely."

They thought about it for a few minutes longer, saying that Yugi was indeed clumsy and it could have been Iggi's fault, but they didn't get very far when the other coach barked at them to get back to their activities.

XxxxX

Coach Prison, after several arguments, finally allowed Yugi to go to the nurse for the remainder of the class, which so happened to be another hour. After gathering his clothes and stuff from his lockers, he and Toby walked over to the Nurse's office. Yugi was able to walk again so Toby let him go, but stayed close to him in case.

"Oh, Mr. Mutou, how are you?" The Nurse, Jenni, greeted the two when they walked in. The woman was about in her mid twenties and was beautiful. She had warm brown eyes to match her dark brown hair with a few strands of Mocha colored highlights. She was tall and slender and was wearing jeans and a nurse type shirt that was a light blue. Her hair was pulled up into a pony tail as it always was during school.

Yugi nodded in greetings and said, "I'm doing good, though my side is killing me." He answered. With a quick scan around the small office, he noticed a student sitting on one of the chairs with a bucket in his hands. His face looked a little green around the edges and he had rosy cheeks.

Toby looked to Yugi then to the nurse before muttering 'Gotta go back to class,' and left.

The nurse, Jenni, frowned. "Don't tell me you were bullied again." She crossed her arms across her chest in concern.

Yugi softly smiled, "No, those days are long behind me. I kind of fell down the stairs last night and think I may have cracked a rib. And, I was just wondering if I could lie down for the remaining of class." Way, way back when Yugi was always beaten to a pulp, only a few teachers would help him and send him to the nurse. The nurse would treat his wounds and would then tell the principle. It was always such a big mess that Yugi didn't feel like always having to go through this kind of procedure, since it was everyday, so he found a way of leaving the nurse alone. That, and it was a bit embarrassing. He hadn't been in this office since his freshman year, and was surprised that she still remembered.

Jenni smiled in relief and nodded her head. She lead the teen over to a small room in the office which held two beds. The lights were off to hold a more relaxing feeling and it held two beds, which were both empty. A bed-side table was in between the two beds and on it held a phone in case you wanted to call someone to pick you up.

"Well, stay here as long as you'd like," Jenni advised, "And, I would give you something for the pain, but you have to be prescribed to it. It's against the rules to hand students medication without a doctors note or parents,"

"That's, alright, I brought my own," Yugi said, and sat down on one of the beds.

Jenni raised an eyebrow. Usually, you're not supposed to tell that to the staff of the school because they had to take it up, District's order, but she let it slide. "All right. You have about an hour till the next bell rings, and if you go to sleep, I'll wake you up." Yugi mumbled his thank you and she left him alone.

After taking a quick trip to the bathroom to change out of his gym clothes and into his uniform, he laid down on the bed and couldn't help but think about his father. '_How am I going to get over this one? He looked like he was determined to make me and mom leave with him. If I don't tell anyone, then I'll really move. If I tell someone, then they would get hurt, and I can't afford that... What do I do?' _

Over the next thirty minutes, he had closed his eyes, looking like he was asleep, when really he was just thinking of a solution. He kept thinking of a weak point in what his father had said, but he could never find it.

_"And do you know how I'm going to get you to come back with me without needing to force you? I'll kill one of your friends." _Chokichi had said. Then he had listed his friends names; Tea, Joey, Ryou, Tristan, and his brother, Atem.

'_Wait...' _Yugi's eyes widen a bit as he slowly sat up, careful not to aggravate his side to much. '_He only listed those friends... But, he never did say my other friends. Maybe I could tell Kaiba and then he could tell...' _The gears in his mind were turning faster and faster as a plan started to form.

But, as quickly as that plan had formed, it quickly broke and left him with nothing. '_No... my father said if I had told _anyone,_ then my friends would get hurt. It doesn't matter who I tell, my friends would get hurt. But... maybe, I could still try..._' And once again, the plan came back.

Just as he finished his plan, Jenni came into the room and noticed him awake and sitting up. "Oh, good. Yugi, the bell will be ringing in about three minutes. Do you need me to write a pass for your next class so you don't have to rush to get there?"

Yugi shook his head and swung his legs over to the side of the bed. "No need. I have lunch next. But, thank you though." The nurse nodded and walked back out of the room.

He quickly gathered his bag with his gym clothes in it, and slung it over his shoulder. Then, taking his time, walked out of the Nurse's office, making sure he thank Jenni for letting him stay here.

XxxxX

"Hey, why did you go to the nurse's office?" Tea asked just as Yugi sat down on the grass beside her. Everyone was already there with their lunches, and had already begun eating. He wasn't very hungry, so he just sat there, talking with them.

"Uh... a incident that happened l-last night." Yugi slightly stuttered, lying for the millionth time today. When his girlfriend looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and he didn't notice that the rest of his friends and brother look at him the same way, he explained, even though he just wanted to stop at that, "Uh... I fell down the stairs and most likely cracked my rib I just wanted to go to the nurse to lay down. No biggy."

"Uh, yes that's big," Tea disagreed with a frown. "Have you told your parents or visited the doctor?"

He rolled his eyes and took a sip out of his water bottle that he always had with him, "What could they do besides tell me to get lots of rest, don't wrap my chest because it'll cause breathing to be hard, and take medicine? I think I'll just take my chances and just take some over the counter medicine." He looked down at the grass instead of the worried eyes of his girlfriend.

"Uh... I guess this has happened to you a lot?" Joey asked, breaking the silence that settled over them. As soon as he asked, he realized the answer and mentally kicked himself for not catching that. He even received a un-necessary punch from Tristan in the shoulder. "Uh, sorry, Yuge, didn't think before I talked."

"Do you ever?" Tristan asked and took a bite from his turkey sandwich.

Yugi smiled and shrugged, "It's alright, I don't mind. But yes, I do know a lot about treating wounds." His voice trailed off towards the end.

Atem stepped in and quickly said, "So, Yugi, how did you do on that math test? I heard that you get the scores today, and if I remember correctly, you had it first period."

Said name looked up with a sulking frown. "Yeah, we got our results back..."

"And...?"

"I have to go in for to talk with the teacher."

Ryou looked up thoughtfully from his lunch, "I got a minty-two, though the test was a bit hard this time."

"Hard?" Joey snorted and almost caused a show with his milk, "Dude, you got a ninety-two on it! How is that hard?"

The silver hair slightly blushed, "I dunno, but it still was hard." He looked back down to his food and took a bite.

"So what did you get, exactly?" Tea asked, nudging her boyfriend with her shoulder.

"A seventy-three."

Tristan thought for a minute before asking, "Then why do you have to go talk to the teacher."

Yugi frowned and turned an innocent glare towards his brother. He looked more like he was pouting. "A certain someone told the teacher that they could tutor me and help me get better grades..."

Atem held up his hands in surrender, his Dr. Pepper still in his hands. "Hey, I'm here to help and be a look out for you."

"But that was uncalled for! I was doing fine!" He whined. "Now I have to go talk to her about all of this extra work that will be due soon. Thanks, _Mou hitori no boku_."

"Now I feel like you only use that name if you either want something, or to use in a sarcastic way," Atem frowned, just now noticing. He dropped his hands and went back to drinking his soda and eating the chips he had bought. Like Yugi, he wasn't as hungry, but was still trying to eat something.

Tea smiled, enjoying the brother moment. "So, what time are you supposed to meet the teacher?"

Yugi was just about to say something with the halfway bell for lunch rung. His eyes widen as he said, "Uh... right now!" He stashed his water back into his bag and slung it back on.

"Well, I hope you aren't late," Tristan joked as he watched his friend kiss Tea's cheek before standing up.

"I'll see you guys later," Yugi said in a rush and started to walk towards the school at a fast pace, even though it was hurting his side like crazy. But right now, that didn't matter, all that did was getting to math class to talk with the teacher so he wouldn't be late for his next class.

XxxxX

The final bell rung, indicating that school had ended for the day. Students filed out of the building in groups and were all going different directions; either home, arcade, somewhere to eat, or just somewhere to hang out. The gang all gathered together and left the school grounds.

"I won't be able to go to the arcade with you guys," Tristan said with a sigh. "I have to go home and watch my sister while my mom goes to work for a few hours."

Everyone nodded as Yugi said, "Thanks to my dear brother, I won't be able to either," he sent a playful glare to his brother, and in return got a big smirk.

Joey raised an eyebrow and looked towards Atem. "Let me guess, you're going home with Yugi too?" He received a nod. "Well, then there's no point in going anymore!"

"Hey, what are we, invisible?" Tea asked, referring to herself and Ryou.

"No offense, but yeah," he joked and got smacked in the shoulder. As rubbed his arm, he re-worded his sentence, "I mean, oh no, that's not what I meant."

Ryou ignored the sarcasm and shook his head, "And, if it makes any more difference, I don't feel like going to the arcade. I'm rather tired,"

"Can't be from benching from gym," Tristan smirked, "You only did what, five?"

"Seven!" The last owner of the Millennium Ring pouted. "And no, I haven't been sleeping well."

Joey frowned, "Okay, so we'll go tomorrow, and there's no way y'all are getting out of that one!"

"What happens if we're in the hospital?" Yugi innocently asked, trying to see what the answer would be.

"Doesn't matter; you're still coming. Even if I have to break you out of there."

"In a different country?"

"I'll sneak a flight and locate you and drag you back."

"Hm... Six feet under?"

Still, Joey didn't even pause to think as he said, "I would get a shovel, un-bury you, and bring you back to life."

Tea looked a little grossed out. "Okay, you are just obsessed with the arcade or are very creepy," though she didn't mean it in a bad way.

As the group were talking, Atem was looking around the buildings, enjoying the nice weather. It was sad that he couldn't go have fun at the arcade with Joey and the others, but he needed Yugi to get his grades higher. And, he had vowed that he would help him succeed, even if that meant no play. Well... not so much play.

As he was looking at a small Starbucks across the street, he saw a man walk over to the window, sitting down with a cup of coffee. He was so focused on his laptop, he never even thought to look up.

'_I know him...' _He thought, looking the guy up and down. After one more quick glance at the pointy hair, the name and who he was popped into his mind. And with that thought, came a wave of anger. He looked away to his brother and noticed that he wasn't paying attention to notice anything.

"Hey, uh.. I'll meet you at home, Yugi." He said, trying to sound casual.

Yugi stopped talking to his friend and looked curiously to his Dark. "Where're you going?"

"Ah, no where important. I uh.. remember that mom wanted something from the store and asked me to pick it up." Luckily, Yugi wasn't paying too much attention to notice that Atem had said mother, who they both haven't seen since the Saturday. He just nodded. "Well, see you guys later," he addressed his friends and with a quick wave, turned around and started to head in the direction they had just came in.

Slowing his walk down, Atem paused in front of the store and looked over to see that his group of friends had turned the corner and were out of sight. Breathing a sigh of relief out, he walked away from the store to the stop light. It was just a few stores down from the coffee shop, so he could keep an eye out for it.

It didn't take the ex pharaoh long to reach his destination, and when he did, he walked casually in to it. The placed smelled like brewing coffee and a sweet aroma of baked goods. Instead of going over to the counter, Atem walked to his right and found the man of his search immediately.

Atem walked over and pulled the chair out opposite of the man and sat down without being invited.

Chokichi looked up in mid-typing, startled. When he noticed who had sat down, he regained his composure and leaned back into his chair, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He rested his elbows on the chair's arms and crossed them.

"Why, if it isn't my own son, coming to me." He said it with such calm. "What is it you need on this fine day? Have you been packing?"

Atem narrowed his eyes until they looked to be as slitted as a cats. He crossed his own hands on top of the table. "Let's just cut right to the chase-,"

"Why bother, Yugi? Let's just have a nice conversation instead of –," He stopped talking and slightly frowned when the boy in front of him shook his head and smiled. Well, more like smirk.

"Can you really not tell who I am?"

"What are you talking about?" Chokichi asked, confused.

"Wow, some father you are, not being able to tell the difference of your sons."

That's when he did noticed. After the man in front of him said that, Chokichi looked closely and could tell from the eyes. Yugi's were more round-ish, child like. His voice was not so deep, and something about this guy was different.

When Atem noticed that Chokichi noticed, he introduced himself, "I am Atem, Yugi's twin brother."

"I know who you are," the older man sneered, and tried to regain his calm composer. "Why are you here?"

The smirk was lost on the pharaoh's face, "I just needed to make sire you knew something," he said.

"And what would that be?"

"Yugi stays." He said. "I don't care who you are or what you do, but you are not forcing my brother to leave with you. You are not to touch him or harm him or anything, or I'll, -"

"You'll what?" Chokichi interrupted. He leaned forward, his eyes narrowing slightly. He was amused now by the statement Atem had just made.

Without a hint of hesitation, he said, "I'll kill you."

"And how do you plan on doing that, _Atem? _There's no way you can do anything; you're only a child."

"I have many years of experience," Atem said, though he would never mention his past where he was the pharaoh of Egypt and had been in many sword fights and Duel's requiring your life force and everything like that.

Before Chokichi could snort and say anything, Atem stood up, a little forceful, and said, "Do not touch Yugi or my mom. Do not come anywhere near me, my family, or our friends." With that, he took off walking. Walking away from the crazed man, walking out of the store, and walking home.

When Atem was gone, Chokichi leaned back into his chair, a big frown on his face and his eyes as narrowed as how Atem's were. "I guess my real son doesn't care about his friends. I guess he would rather have them die to save himself." He stared at his computer screen, ignoring his work. "I guess I'll need to take a little visit and get things going a little faster."

XxxxX

"See, when you multiply this number here, and that number there, then divide it by this number and then cross multiply it all by X, you'll get this." Atem instructed, showing Yugi how to do the homework in the living room. They had been going on it for about an hour, and with each passing minute, Yugi was getting more and more confused.

"But, why do you have to cross multiply it with X?" He asked, scratching his head. Iggi was right next to him, lying in a curled up ball, bored with what was going on.

Atem explained, "Well, you can't just leave X by itself now, can you?" Yugi shook his head. Atem then watched as his brother started to work the problem out, concentrating hard on it, even with the tip of his tongue out of his mouth.

He leaned back against the couch, making sure Yugi was doing it correctly.

"Like this?" Yugi asked a minute later.

"Yup. Now, try the next question,"

Meanwhile, upstairs in the hallway, Miyuki and Solomon were talking.

"I was wondering if you could go to the store and pick a few things up for me..." Miyuki said, trying to keep her voice from quivering. "I would g-go, but I'm not feeling too good." When really, she had to stay home. She had just got off the phone with a certain someone, and now had to clear the house of all but her and Yugi.

Solomon nodded. "Was this all you wanted me to get?" He asked with a good nature. He took the piece of paper his Daughter-in-law had just pulled out of her pocket, and scanned over it. Just simple things like food, and some girly things.

"Y-yes please. And, take as long as you'd like; I'm in no rush." She faked a smile. She pulled her sweater a little tighter around her shoulders like she was cold, when really she was trying to hide the nervousness.

Solomon nodded, "Oh, and I'll pick up something to eat on the way home. So, it might take a little longer."

Right when he was about to turn around to leave, Miyuki remembered one more thing, "Oh, and can you please take Atem with you?"

"Sure, and I'll take Yugi also,"

Panic appeared in the mother's eyes, but as quickly as it had come, it quickly vanished as she shook her head. "He uh... needs to stay home."

Solomon raised an eyebrow. "Really? Was there something that he was supposed to do?"

She started to wrack her brain for something, anything that would be good enough that he would need to stay home. She thought about what he was doing right now, and nodded, "He uh... needs to continue with his extra assignment. I had … gotten a phone call earlier from his math teacher and she said he needed to turn that in as quickly as possible so he could raise his average in class." Unlike her son, she could lie a little bit better, and just a little.

"Oh, alright," Solomon nodded, though he looked a little suspicious. Whatever he was thinking, he kept to himself as he folded the list and put it in his pocket. He turned around and said, "Well, we'll be going."

Miyuki nodded and waved, When the elder was out of range, her shoulders collapsed and her legs almost gave out. She let out a low sigh of relief and closed her eyes. "What's going to happen when they leave?" She asked herself.

Slowly, she straightened up and walked over to her room. She gripped the doorknob and was slowly closing it, trying to keep her eyes away from looking at the luggage all around her room with clothes being packed into it. There was even one of Yugi's with a few of his clothes and things he needed, since she knew he wouldn't pack.

With the door closed, she leaned her head forward and rested her forehead against the wood. "I can't believe this is all happening."

XxxxX

Back downstairs, Grandpa was gathering his things, like his car keys and his wallet. He walked back into the living room to where his two grandson's were busy doing homework. He cleared his throat, getting their attention, "Sorry to interrupt your studying time, boys," he smiled, "But, I was going to the store to pick up a few things."

Yugi's eyes lit up, "Oh, can I go?"

"Sorry, Yugi, I wish you could, but aren't you supposed to be working on that homework of yours?" Grandpa raised an eyebrow. "But, I will need help carrying all of the groceries." He looked at Atem with an expected look.

"Atem got up from his spot ans agreed, "I'll come." Then he looked down at his brother, "And I expect half of this to be done when I get back, aibou," He couldn't help but smile and ruffle his partners hair.

Yugi swatted the hand away before it could mess his hair up. "Don't be expecting too much," he grinned.

The two men left after Atem had slipped his shoes on, and Yugi was left still concentrating on his work. He didn't notice that his mom had walked downstairs and into the living room until she had kissed the top of his head.

"Mom!" Yugi looked up, a bit startled. He looked at her as she sat down on the edge of the couch and pulled him into a hug. He hugged her back, and tried to hide his reaction. His mother looked off from her hair hanging sloppy from a bun, and dark circles under her eyes.

Iggi also raised his head and looked around.

"Hey honey," she said in the softest of soft voices. She squeezed him and wouldn't let go, like he was her life preserver.

"A-are you alright?" Yugi asked, curious by the sudden affection. He hugged her back, and waited until she pulled back. When she did, he noticed that her blue eyes were a bit dull and a bit... was that fear, in them?

Miyuki shook her head and moved her gaze away from her son. "I wish I was..."

Yugi looked down at his dog who looked up at him. The beagle shrugged his shoulders and then bent his head to start licking his paw in long, smooth strokes.

"Mom..." he started off but was cut off by his mother.

"I'm so sorry, honey," She said suddenly and looked back to him. "I didn't mean any of this to happen...! I-I-I," Tears formed in her eyes and she looked so fragile like a little kid.

'Something's _wrong,' Yugi thought, feeling something in the pit of his stomach twist._ He was about to lay a hand on her knee and ask what was wrong, when Iggi's head suddenly snapped up and a growl escaped his parted jaws. The fun on his back started to stand and he slowly raised to his paws and glared to the doorway of the living room.

Frowning, Yugi and his mom looked over to where the dog was looking, to find a man right in front of them. He bent down and before Yugi could do anything, he grabbed the boy by his neck and hauled him up by force.

"You are a piece of chicken shit," Chokichi growled, holding his son up to where they were at equal eye level.

Yugi's eyes doubled in size as his hands tried to free himself of the strong hands. "W-what?" He made out. His father wasn't squeezing or anything, so he didn't have to fight for breath.

Miyuki jumped to her feet, her eyes still wide with fear, but also something of rage, "Let him go!" She ordered.

Chokichi ignored her and slightly squeezed on the fragile neck in his strong hands. "You know what I'm talking about." He said, his eyes narrowing. "I thought you valued your friends life!"

"I d-do!"

"Then why did you tell? Are you more afraid for yourself that you don't care what happens to your friends?" He demanded and threw his son across the coffee table to the other side of the room. Yugi slide and hit the wall.

Chokichi started to walk towards him, but not before Iggi decided to attack him by biting his leg until he sunk his teeth into the man's flesh and broke the skin. "Ah, get off you damn mutt!" he hissed and tried to shake the dog off. But, the dog held on, not giving up. No one messes with his owner and gets away with it!

"Iggi!" Yugi yelled and struggled to his feet. To his horror, he watched as his father bent down and grabbed his dog by the scruff and forced him to let go. Iggi's body became frozen by the hold. "No!" Yugi yelled when he saw what his father was about to do. But, it was too late, the man threw the dog across the room.

Iggi flew into the wall and slide down, though, thank the gods, he was alright. His chest was still rising and he even tried to get up. Blood was dripping down his chin and onto the floor.

Chokichi glared at the pup and then turned to his son. "You are so annoying! I tell you to stay quiet, but what do you do? You tell!" He said, and was about to walk over to the teen who was on his feet and who wanted to run over to his dog.

"Don't you touch him!" Miyuki yelled and threw a text book at her husband.

The book hit his back and then dropped to the floor. Chokichi wasn't affected by the incident but did stop walking and turned around.

Yugi paused what he was about to do, and watched the scene play out in front of him. His father was walking over to his mother, who was now slowly backing away.

"Did you want to say something, Miyuki?" Chokichi said each word low and slowly, you could hear the anger in each word. Before the woman could move anywhere else, his hand reached out and grabbed her wrist, holding on tight. The tighter she tried to break loose, the tighter he held on.

"Y-yes," Miyuki squeaked, "stay away from Yugi. He doesn't need to be involved in any of this!" She found the courage in her voice to stand up to him. The fear left her eyes, but not completely, and in it's place was a mother's strength to make sure her child's safe.

"Oh, I believe he is," Chokichi smiled evilly and then pushed his wife away from him. When he watched as the woman fell to the ground, he turned around and began again in walking over to his son.

Yugi was slowly inching towards his dog and now mother but was stopped when a big figure blocked his view. He only had enough time to look up before he felt the same pressure on his neck as before. But this time, the pressure increased a little.

"I'm guessing you really want your friends to die, huh?" Chokichi resumed his conversation from just a few minutes from before. He picked the teen back up for eye level. His blue, narrowed eyes on the amethyst ones.

"W-what're ta-lking about?" Yugi asked, now struggling for air. He tried to wiggle, seeing if his weight was too much to hold, but found out that it didn't matter. His father wasn't going to be letting go anytime soon.

Chokichi snorted, "Are you really asking that stupid question?" He shoved Yugi against the wall and still held onto him. His son gasped out but didn't say anything. "Your damn brother!" He shouted, and shoved him again, this time harder. "You told him about me after I told you not too!"

Yugi's eyes widen as he now understood what the man was talking about. "W-what? I didn't tell h-him any...thing!" He was barely getting any oxygen into his body since it was getting harder and harder to breathe. He tried to remember if he ever did tell Atem about his father. But, his mind came up blank.

"Don't like to me, you stupid runt!" His father spat, "You told him, even though I had already gave you the consequences." When he noticed the blank look upon his son's face, he shook his head and squeezed just a bit harder, "Your _brother _found me this afternoon and told me to leave you alone. He even told me to leave your mom and pathetic friends alone. Now, doesn't that sound familiar?"

Well, now Yugi knew where Atem had gone when when they were walking home. It was kind of suspicious when Atem had gotten home empty handed and was in a slightly bad mood. When Yugi asked about it, Atem shook his head and had told him it was nothing. So apparently Atem had seen Chokichi and told him to stay away form Yugi... that made a lot more sense.

Yugi didn't even get to say anything before his father once again threw him across the room. This time, he landed right next to his dog.

"Expect your friends to be getting hurt, Yugi." Chokichi growled. "I'm not letting this one go. I don't care who gets involved, you are coming with me whether you want to or not."

However, before he could turn around to leave, Miyuki had gotten to her feet, and realized what was going on. "Wait," she stopped the man. He looked at her, waiting. "There's no need to hurt any of his friends!" She looked over to where her son was slowly getting to his hands and feet. One of his hands were on his neck, as he was gasping for air.

"And why not?"

"Because... Yugi never said anything." Miyuki said. She didn't know if that was true or not, but she had a hunch over what she just heard. "Atem, he... he is very protective over Yugi. He would do anything to make sure he is safe, just like what an older brother would do. He would go to extremes to ensure his safety." Which was beyond true. "Atem probably just heard about you and needed to make sure you knew that."

Chokichi crossed his arms over his chest. "And why would I believe that?"

"Because it's true." Yugi coughed, and was able to lean his back against the wall to help support his weight. Iggi was still in the same position as earlier, but this time, closer to his owner. "I... I never said a-anything to an-yone. Atem only w-wants to make sure I'm- I'm okay."

"Grrr," Iggi growled, glaring at the man.

"Huh, fine. But, if I hear anyone else knowing of this, be prepared that they _will _die." He said. He looked at them both and then added, "Don't forget to pack your bags; I want to leave this god forsaken place as soon as I can." He turned around and then left.

Once they heard the bell to the game shop door ring, Miyuki rushed to her son's side and was checking him for any bad wounds. "Are you okay, honey?" She fragrantly asked.

Yugi nodded, trying to get his mom to stop. "Y-yeah... Just a little sore in my neck," he said. Though, he already knew that a bruise was forming there. His father had squeezed to hard, hard enough to make a bruise.

"I'm so sorry all of this has happened!" She pulled her son in to her and hugged him tightly. "I never thought things would go this far. He... he came to my work yesterday and blackmailed me! He told me if I didn't do as he'd asked, he would kill either you or Atem or someone else! And I know he would! I- I couldn't... I didn't know what to do, so I agreed to it. And then earlier today, like an hour ago, he called me and told me that I needed to get Solomon and Atem out of the house. I didn't know why, and at first I was repelled to, but then..." Tears were streaming down her face as she hugged her son tighter. "I want to tell your grandfather, but I know that if I do, something bad will happen!"

Yugi hugged her back, understanding. "We can't go with him, though! I'm not leaving Japan. I can't! Not because if me and Atem are separated, I'd die, but I just can't. I finally have a great life here, I can't do it!"

"I know, honey. I don't want to leave either, but there's no other way." She pulled back and wiped her eyes. "Chokichi will do whatever it takes."

"Why?" Yugi asked, "why does he suddenly want us to go with him? Why now, of all time?"

Miyuki shook her head, "I don't know. He hasn't told me anything than what I just told you. I just know, what ever it is, it's something big. I don't know why he is doing this, but I really want to know why."

There was a small whine, and both human's looked down to find Iggi looking up at them with big, wide orbs. He had cleaned his muzzle of all of the blood, and looked as good as new. His fur on his back had laid flat again.

Yugi smiled and picked his dog up, clutching him to his chest. "Thanks, boy. You were so brave out there." He kissed the top of his dogs head and in return received a lick.

It was quiet between the three. After a minute or two, Yugi looked up to his mother and said, "I have a plan about this."

Miyuki raised an eyebrow as she wiped away all of her tears. "What is it?"

"Okay, dad... he told me that if I were to tell someone about any of this, then he would kill one of my friends, and he said something similar to you, right?"

Miyuki nodded her head, not seeing where this was going.

"Well, I was thinking about, –," He told her of his plan.

"No, that's too dangerous," Miyuki said, shaking her head. "And, what happens if he does find out about it? There's no telling what he'll do."

Yugi bit his the inside of his cheek. "But that's the only thing I could think of. I'm sure Kaiba could help. I just have to ask him, or Mokuba if he won't listen."

Miyuki shook her head again. "I'm sorry, Yugi, but there's still no telling what will happen." She stood up and looked away. "We'll just have to watch and see what will happen. As much as I hate it, that's how it's supposed to me."

"But mom!" Yugi argued, setting his dog on the ground and following her lead in standing up.

"No buts, Yugi." She said in a stern voice. She looked back to him and her voice softened, "I will come up with something. But, for now, keep quiet." Yugi looked away and crossed his arms against his chest, not liking this. "And, I will give you some make-up to cover your neck. I'm afraid that will turn into a bruise."

She turned around and walked towards the stairs. When she made it to the doorway, she looked back to her son and whispered, "I love you, Yugi, and I'll do anything to keep you safe."

Yugi looked over to her just as she disappeared from view. He looked away again, feeling more frustrated than he was when he was working on his extra credit homework.

"Crap... my homework!" Yugi snapped out of what he was in and quickly went to the table. But, when he sat down and looked at it, he knew he wouldn't be able to just sit here and work on it, pretending none of that had happened. He needed to do something.

He knew what his mom had told him about if he told Kaiba, then something bad would happen. But, he couldn't just sit here, and let his father take me and his mom away. He needed to do something!

And that's when Yugi had decided what he would do. He looked over to the clock and saw that it only read six-thirty pm. The sun was too bright outside to do anything, so he would have to wait till after nightfall.

Yugi picked up his pencil and went back to work. In his mind, he knew what he would be doing later when everyone went to sleep. He would sneak out and run over to the Kaiba mansion.

XxxxX

Till next time! Soooo did you like it? Hate it? … Love it? XD

Hey guys, just wanted to say that I took the other week off because I was trying to collect my thoughts. Now I have!

Lisa: Bout time.

Blah to you too. So, did y'all miss me?

Lisa: Why would they miss you for?

Well.. you never know...

Lisa: Well I do, and I say they didn't.

Why you being so mean? DX

Lisa: Because, I'm your yami, and I'm supposed to be.


	13. A Night's Run To Kaiba's

**Okay, yeah, I have to apologize guys. I didn't tell y'all I was taking a week off to gather my thoughts, and I loved how y'all welcomed me back! I love y'all! ^^ But, anyways, I kind of thought about it that night, after I had sent the last chapter off, that, I had no idea what I should write. I was totally blank; clueless. It didn't take me until that Saturday night till I thought of what to write, and I was like, 'I'm so not going to try and write this now, because if I do, I'll end up rushing, and it'll be horrible, not including all the grammar and misspelled words.' So yeah, like you guys, I didn't know I was taking a week off. But, in the future, I will tell y'all. Or, if I can't, I'll have Lisa kick my butt. **

**Lisa: Oooooooooooh! Now _that _sounds like fun! XD **

… **Gee, thanks. But, yeah, sorry! ^^ And I loved how y'all missed me!**

**Lisa: Don't get to full of yourself or they'll rethink on what they wrote, my dear hikari.**

**Right, heehaw, to the story! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! **

Chapter Twelve:

Grandpa decided to buy pizza for supper that night. When he and Atem came home from the store, they found Yugi still working on his homework, though he seemed a bit jumpy. Even Iggi was jumpy. When they had walked in the door, the dog looked up and started growling. It wasn't until Yugi had calmed him down before the dog laid his head back down. Miyuki had came downstairs when they arrived home and she too, looked a bit different. Wasn't jumpy or anything, but she wouldn't look anyone in the eye and would talk softly.

Over dinner, it was rather quiet. There was barely anything said, and if there was, the answers were short and simple.

"So, uh, Yugi," Atem started, trying to break the uncomfortable silence at the table. His Light looked up from his cheese pizza with a curious look. "How far did you get with your homework?"

Despite the easy question, Yugi felt all eyes on him as he swallowed. "Uh... Not far..." He replied honestly. He fidgeted slightly and made an excuse up, one that did not involve his father. "I kind of forgot how to do some of the problems,"

Atem frowned. "You forget easily."

Grandpa smiled, "That's because it's school related. Boy, if you were to ask him what battle strategy he used on the first person during Battle City, a few years ago, I bet he would be able to tell you."

And just like that, Yugi paused for a moment and then his face brightened up. He opened his mouth to explain who he had fought and what the battle plan was, but Atem shook his head. "And he remembers. Now we just need to find a way for you to remember how to do the math problems." He took a bite of his pizza and started to think.

"Hey!" Yugi pouted, "No thinking at the table!"

Atem paused and raised an eyebrow, "And who made that rule up?"

"I did!"

"Pssh, then why would I have to obey that rule?"

"Because I say so." Yugi smiled.

"Uh huh," Somehow, the two boys seemed to loosen up the tense mood and even though they were all half way done eating, they all started to slowly talk about their days. Though, Miyuki kept quiet, saying that her day at work was boring and nothing fun had happened. Yugi bit the inside of his cheek, knowing how his mother was feeling.

When they finished eating, Grandpa started to help clean up when Atem stopped him. "Don't worry, Jii-chan, we'll clean everything up. You and mom got relax."

Grandpa smiled, "Ah, that's nice of you. Well, if you need me, I'll be watching the News." He set the dishes that were already in his hands by the counter before walking out of the kitchen.

"Are you sure?" Miyuki asked, though quietly. When both of her sons nodded their heads, she gave off a small smile. "Well if you insist. Thank you," she turned around and left the kitchen. Soon, it was only the two teenage boys and their pet dog.

As Yugi was rinsing the dishes off and handing them to Atem to load into the dish washer, Yugi asked, "So, why were you trying to get them out of the kitchen?" He asked, though kept his voice low so no one could over hear them.

Atem looked up, "Why would you say that?" He took a handful of silverware and placed them in its' holder.

"I don't know, because that's what it seemed like?"

Atem nodded and looked away. When he spoke, his voice was calm,and quiet like Yugi's, "I was wondering if you noticed anything different about mom. She was awfully quiet at supper and she didn't look good."

Biting his lip, Yugi thought about what he was going to say. He was thinking about saying that he didn't know, but that would consider lying to him, and boy, was Yugi tired an sick of lying. Just from the past two weeks, he lied so much and he knew it needed to stop. Of course he couldn't say anything about his father, yet, so he said the only thing he could, which was sort of true since it did happen at her work, "She's been having trouble at work." To make sure he didn't explain more, he kept his eyes on the dishes an rinsed them off.

"Really? Do you know what kind of trouble?"

'_One that I wish I could tell you but if I did, something bad would happen,' _He thought but instead shrugged. "She didn't really tell me," Chokichi did.

"Oh," He took a plate and stuck it in the bottom part of the dish washer. He thought about hat he could do to help, but knew that since it was work related, he couldn't really do anything. He took a second to see that his brother was handing him the last dish and was rinsing his hands off before drying them off with a nearby towel.

After Atem had dried his hands, he was about to ask Yugi if he needed anymore help with his homework, if not he was going to go get his back ready for school tomorrow, when Yugi suddenly hugged him. Confused by the sudden affection, he hugged him right back.

"You alright, aibou?" He asked.

Yugi nodded and rested his cheek on his brothers shoulder. "I don't know," was his reply. He gave a squeeze before letting go. When he pulled back, Atem noticed his eyes looked distant and very deep in thought. "Just... needed some comfort, you know?" He wouldn't meet his brother in the eyes, but looked at him and shook his head. Putting on a fake smile, he added, "Well, I'll be in my room working on my homework. And don't worry, I now remember how to do them."

"Alright..." He watched his closest friend leave the room in a hurry and disappeared from sight.

'_Something's wrong, i can feel it. But, what is the problem?' _Atem stood in the middle of the kitchen with his arms crossed over his chest in a worry way. As he stood there, he felt something brush against his leg and broke his gaze to see Iggi looking up at him with sad eyes.

Iggi whined and gently swayed to bump into him.

"What is it, Iggi?" Atem knelt down to one knee and started to pet the dog.

Said name looked away from the ex-pharaoh and over to the entrance of the kitchen, the place where Yugi had just vanished from. The dog whined once again, and for some reason, Atem felt like he knew what he was saying. He looked up and back to where he was originally looking.

"I already know something bad is going on. He's been acting differently, even if he tries to hide it. And I know it has something to do with his father, but I just don't know what it is." He sighed and continued to pet the dog.

XxxxX

A few minutes after ten, Atem poked his head in through his brothers door and found the boy on his bed, asleep. He couldn't tell it Yugi had changed into his pj's since the covers were covering him, but he guessed he was, since he was already asleep. When he looked around, he noticed his Light had his backpack ready to go for tomorrow.

'_Guess he really did finish his homework,' _he thought and smiled. He flipped the switched off and quietly closed the door to the room before going to his own to get ready for bed.

When the door clicked shut, Yugi opened one eye and peaked around his room, making sure no one was in here. When he found the coast clear, he sat up and threw the covers off of him, revealing the clothes he had been wearing all day today, and his shoes. He hoped up out of bed and started to make his way over to his window. He would use the front door, but there was the bell and that would wake someone up, so he decided to use his own window.

Right when he unlatched the window, he heard a soft whine and froze. Yugi looked over to his desk to find his dog watching him with those blue eyes that shone through the darkness.

Yugi knelt down and his dog padded over to him. "Don't worry, Iggi," he whispered and scratched his ear, "I'll be back with some help. I promise not to be gone long, so no need to wait up for me, okay?"

The beagle looked at him with eyes that related as, 'Yeah right, I'll be waiting for you and won't get an ounce of sleep 'till you get back home.'

Yugi smiled and gave one more good scratch before standing back up and slowly opening the window. As his hand grasped the gutter,he looked back to his dog and said, "I'll be back." And looked back to what he was doing.

He started to test the pipe, seeing if it would hold his weight and wouldn't collapse on him. When the pipe seemed sturdy enough, he let go of his window's sill and slid down the metal until his feet touched down to solid ground. He straightened his back and looked up to see his dog poking his head out, watching him.

Waving to his dog, Yugi took a deep breath and turned around. It was at least ten blocks from his house to the Kaibas' mansion, and the bus stop was already closed. On the week days, it closed by ten, and on the weekends, it closed at eleven. But, knowing that he couldn't wait till the weekend, and he wouldn't be able to wait until day light to ask Kaiba for permission, he rolled his shoulders back, took one more calming breath, and started his run.

Every time a car came driving by, either coming towards him or going the other way, Yugi would hide in alleyways or in the little space in the doorways to shops. He kept having a hunch that his dad would for some reason be patrolling the streets at night, making sure his son wouldn't try anything sneaky like what he was doing now. After the cars would pass, he would get back out and continue running.

'_Please let this work!' _He silently prayed to the Gods, hoping that this once, they were listening to him, in his time of need. '_Just this once, please listen. I do not want to leave my friends and family. I want to stay here and continue on with my life. If I do leave, bad things will happen. Just please, let me get to Kaiba's safely without my dad finding out!' _

With only three blocks left to run, Yugi turned a corner and continued running. As he was running, he saw a car coming his way. Fear sparked through him and he quickly saw an alleyway just a few feet ahead of him. As quick as he could, he ran for cover and hid behind a dumpster, poking his head out to watch the car drive by rather slowly. When he saw what kind of car it was, he sighed in relief. He was luckily he hid this time since that was a cop car driving by. The police would have stopped him and asked what he was doing out on a night like this, especially since it was a school's night. Yugi just wanted to get to Kaiba's as fast as he could before anyone noticed, and if a cop stopped him, he would be wasting time.

'_Almost there,' _Yugi thought and go back to his feet, panting.

Just as he was about to walk away, a hand came out of nowhere and covered his mouth. Yugi felt a spark of fear go up his spine and he tried to fight to get away. But the person covering his mouth held on tight and then held a knife to his throat. Yugi stopped struggling and started to breath a bit faster.

The person holding on to Yugi smirked and started to walk backwards, further into the ally, into the dark. As he was walking, he put his mouth near his victim's ear and said in a low, chilling voice, "Oh, how did I know you were going to try something?"

Yugi froze on spot as he recognized that voice.

From the stiffness, the person smiled even wider, even if he couldn't been seen. "Ah, so I see you recognize who I am." With one great push, Yugi's captive shoved him and turned to face him, making sure he was guarding the only way out.

Yugi hit the back wall of the ally and looked up, not knowing whether to be angry or scared. He tired to calm his breathing down without much success and said in a low voice, "What are you doing here, Danny? Shouldn't you be at home, asleep?"

The school's bully crossed his arms against his chest, "Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?"

Yugi frowned, "I can be out here it I want..." Without trying to be noticeable, he tried to look for a way out. But, he came up short, seeing that the only way out would to get past Danny, but that seemed impossible. He slowly straightened up, his hands sliding along the wall behind him. "W-what're you doing out?"

Danny shrugged, watching Yugi like a hawk would it's food. "Taking a stroll for some fresh air. Doing a job for someone. You know, same old same old."

"What's the job you're supposed to be doing?" He couldn't help but ask.

There was a wide, creepy grin plastered on the bully's face as he said, "Oh, I don't know, making sure certain teenagers don't try telling people of his problems."

Yugi felt his face paled and asked a question that he already knew the answer for, "Who assigned you this j-job?" He swallow, praying that he was wrong, but knew that he was a hundred percent right.

"Oh, I think you know, Yugi." Danny took a step towards the teen. "He sought me out because of our relationship to one another and asked me to keep an eye out for you. Do you know why?" When Yugi didn't answer, he continued and took another step forward, "Because he wanted to make sure you didn't go and try ratting him out. He didn't really give me the details of what this is all about, but he's paying me and told me that I could be the shit out of you if I found you." He took another step forward.

Panic swelled in Yugi's stomach as he tried to push himself against the wall as much as he could, wishing that the wall could swallow him whole. Before he had left home, he had closed his link with Atem, just to be on the safe side, now he wish he didn't. But, if he had left it opened, and Atem had felt the panic and fear coming form him and rush over here, Yugi would then have o explain what was going on. And, if he did that, Chokichi would kill one of his friends. He wasn't going to let that happen.

"But, why would you work for my dad?" Yugi tried to sound brave, but knew he sounded weak and afraid.

Danny chuckled and took another step, then another. "Why not? I'm getting paid for doing something I like. And I won't be getting in trouble for anything." He smiled.

Yugi shook his head, getting ready to do something stupid and reckless but knew he needed to stall, "H-how much is he paying you?" He winced as Danny was getting closer and closer to him.

"Does it really matter?" He shrugged, "But, since I guess you wanna know how much you're getting beat up for, so fifty dollars. You're dad gives good tips for something so easy."

"H-huh, I guess he does. But, it's not really that good since I guess you're always staying up at night," he had no clue what he was saying, just that he needed to get Danny distracted so he could make his escape. "Or something like that," he added in a mumble. Slowly, he started to inch around Danny, not knowing if Danny was paying attention or not.

The bully frowned, slightly confused. "Huh? That didn't really make any sense," and took another step forward.

Yugi tried again, "Uh... well, why are you getting paid only that much when you have to stay up all hours of the night, waiting for me to come or not? What happened if I never came? You'd be so tired for school the next day and then when it came night again, you'll be too tired for it," he explained better.

Danny paused, "Never thought about it that way... But, eh, school's for losers; I'll just stay home and catch up on my sleep." And continued again.

Yugi bit his cheek, and tried to think of something else to talk about it. Before he could say anything, he saw an opening between Danny and he wall. It was a slim chance, but it was now or never. '"You know, I know that you want to beat me up and that you got paid and everything, but I can't allow you to do that." Thank the Gods, his voice had lost all of it's fear and turned right back to normal talking voice and he wasn't stuttering.

"And why is that?" Danny asked, amused.

"Because, I have someone important to be." Yugi took off running for the small opening, praying that he would make it through and keep running till he got to Kaiba's home.

But, it looked like the Gods were not favoring Yugi. Danny had already predicted this was going to happen, was was ready to punch Yugi square in the gut when the teen was lose enough.

Yugi flew backwards and felt the air knocked out of him when he hit the concrete flooring. He made a move to curl up in fetal position while holding his stomach, but but a presence near him and then a sharp pain in his side as he was kicked. The force of the kick sent him rolling and he collided with the other side of the wall.

Knowing that if he didn't move, he would continue to get bruised up more, so he tried with all his might to get to his knees, and if he were able to, his feet. But just as he made it to the tips of his feet and was about to sprint away, hopefully in the direction of the street, he felt another kick and this time, in his stomach, close to where he had a cracked rib.

"Ah," Yugi sucked in a mouth full of air as he saw stars blur his vision.

"I could tell that one hurt," Danny sneered in a vicious manner. He picked his victim up by the front of the shirt and couldn't help but smile, "Ah, this does bring back some good memories. At least no one is here to stop me, none of your little 'bodyguards'." He rolled his eyes and with his free hand, punched Yugi in the chin.

"Not... b-body g... guards!" Yugi fought to breathe. His whole body started to pulse with pain, but he mainly felt it on his left side, the side that he had the cracked rib. "Pro... protective frien-ds!" That received another punch in the stomach and he could feel something coming up from him. He already guessed what it was, but there wasn't much he could do about it.

"Friends, bodyguards, same difference," Danny yawned and beat the shit out of Yugi again.

The next thing Yugi knew, he was on the ground, on his side with blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth in a slow stream. He was breathing heavily and with each intake of breath, the harder it was to stay conscious. His eyes were half opened and he watched with a dull expression as Danny was coming closer again. He was wearing a frown as he got down on one knee and picked Yugi up by the front of the shirt again.

"You know, you really need to learn how to fight back. If you did, you wouldn't end up like this. I can't wait to see you get mad one day and just hit something, or someone." He got ready to deliver the final punch when someone grabbed his fist and kept him from the last hit.

"That's enough. I wanted you to teach him a lesson, not kill him." The voice said in a disappointed way.

Danny glanced up and cursed under his breath. "Yeah yeah," He released his grip of the subconscious Yugi at the same time Chokichi released his hand. He got to his feet and dusted his shirt off like he actually had gotten dirty through the process.

Chokichi looked down at his son with a look of pity but also full of disgust. He then turned his piercing blue eyes on Danny and said, "You may go now; you've fulfilled your task."

Danny just shrugged, "Whatever. Tell Yugi when he wakes up, that I'll see him at school." He tucked his hands in the pockets of his jeans and turned around, leaving the father and son alone.

Chokichi remained quiet as he scooped his son up into his arms and followed the other teen out of the alleyway.

XxxxX

When Yugi was able to breath and think clearly, he noticed that the environment he was in was moving. Last he could remember was laying on the ground, his brain to jumbled up to remember anything. Danny was about to add the final hit when someone had stopped him. Yugi tried to remember, but he couldn't. He was barely alive, so you have to give him credit that he could remember anything.

"Ah, so you're awake," A voice coming from the left said.

To Yugi, the voice sounded a little loud and he wanted to cover his ears or tell the person to tone it down a few notches, but he couldn't move. Not because he was tied up, but because he was hurting with every movement.

"Mm," was the best he could do. H blinked his eyes just a bit, trying to get used to all of his surroundings moving at an interesting speed. Kind of slow, but at the same time, fast. So far, he could tell that he as in a car.

"I guess I went a little over board in saying that kid could beat you up however much he wanted to..." The voice said, his voice just a little softer and he sounded like he was frowning.

'_That voice sounds familiar...' _Yugi felt his mind clear more and despite the pain, turned his head to look at the driver. He didn't show much reaction, since it was typical his father had of found him outside trying to find help.

When Chokichi glanced over to his son to find him watching him, he shook his head and made a 'Tsk Tsk' sound. "I thought I told you not to try to do anything stupid."

"I... didn't," Yugi managed to make out. His mouth was dry and in need of some water. He could taste blood but didn't do anything about it. His back started to feel uncomferable so he arched it just a little and ignored the pain shooting everywhere.

"Oh yes you did," the father argued back but in a normal tone. He looked back to where he was driving. "I told you not to try and sought someone out to help you, but you did anyways. I find that as stupid as trying to break a criminal out of jail." He shook his head. "Though, I am happy that that Danny fellow got to you before you could find anyone."

Yugi remained quiet, wondering where they were going. His eyes were hurting too much to actually look out the window so he kept his eyes glued to the dashboard of the car.

"I hope you know," Chokichi continued, "That I decided that we'll be leaving sometime tomorrow evening or early in the morning of the following day."

Yugi's eyes snapped up in alarm. _'What? He can't do that!' _He thought, his mind going faster and faster. There was no way for him to get help in time unless he confronted Atem and/or Grandpa. Which, he was going to need to do.

As if reading his mind, the father continued, "You will be staying home tomorrow to pack everything up, and I already checked with Miyuki that your grandfather will be out with a friend for the morning. And your dear brother will be at school. So, there's nothing to stop you form packing whatever you want." He thought for a minute, "Oh, and you'll just have to act sick in the morning. Lie to your brother, I know that you're getting better at it, since you've been lying to him a lot."

He felt tears stinging his eyes. Tomorrow will be his last day in Domino... '_No! I will not think like that! No matter what, I'm not going with him even if I have to glue myself to the floor!' _He thought, determination filling with him. Of course, he didn't let that show.

"I'll be keeping an eye out for you, Yugi, making sure you do not go anywhere." He said, just as the car was slowing down. Yugi looked out the window and noticed that they were in front of the game shop. "Now, if I were you, I would get back into the house the same way you got out. You don' want to wake anyone up and have them noticing how you look. Which by the way, you look like hell."

'_And I feel like it too,' _Yugi thought. He started to open the door when qa hand stopped him. Without turning back, he listened to his father.

"Remember, don't tell anyone. So, no waking your brother up or anything. I'm still debating if I will have time or not to go visit your friends tonight or tomorrow." He smiled when he felt his son tense up. "Now, run along to your bedroom and get a good night's rest; you'll need it for all that packing."

Feeling like a robot, Yugi barely nodded and stepped out of the car, careful to move slowly. As he was about to close the door, Chokichi managed to say, "Don't forget to cover up all of those bruises and everything else."

XxxxX

After a long, pain-filled climb, Yugi managed to stragger into his room and onto his bed. He didn't bother trying to change. "I'm dead," he whispered as tears started to fall freely down his face. "Not only did I gain anything tonight, I will be gone tomorrow. I am useless and weak and pathetic. I never gained courage from Atem... all I got was more weakness. I can never do anything right! I can't even save my own self." He sobbed into his pillow.

Iggi gazed up at his owner and hopped up onto the bed. He curled up next to him, trying to ease some of the pain by telling his owner that he was there for him. The beagle laid his head ontop of Yugi's back and felt the boy's entire frame shake.

"By tomorrow, I'm gone," Yugi whispered, moving to fit with his dog. "But, I don't want to leave! I can't!"

After several minutes of repeating that he didn't want to leave, he passed out from exhaustion. Iggi stared around the room, not knowing what he could do to help. All he could do was lie here, keep guard and make sure no one tried to mess with his owner. He stayed awake the whole night, and while in doing that, listened to his partner continue to cry in his sleep.

XxxxX

Till next time, my fellow readers! Sorry this was a rather short chapter... But next time should be longer. :) Supposedly. Lol. Tell me what you think on this one!

Reveiws:

**Couldn'tThinkOfaName: **I'll make sure I go back and check everythign out, lol. I do tend to forget to look at some of the conversations to make sure they're all right. Thanks for the heads up though. ^^ And I'm glad you liked the Atem and Chokichi talk! (That's what you meant, yes? You said Atem and Yami... so I guess. :P ) And huh, I'll be sure to go check thoughs out. When you get an account, just send me a message, and then I'll talk to you about some other good books you should read! They are my favorite. But, the books sound interesting, and I can't wait to look for them!

Yes, my brain is thanking me too, it's nice and relaxed and can think again, lol. ^^

**Fangirl: **Hehehe, I don't think Kaiba can. :D Thanks for reading and sticking with the story!

**AnzuFan: **Yay! I'm glad you liked those lines too! They are one of my favorites! :D And yes! I got everyone to think that Kaiba can help! XD I'm so good! Lol.

Nah, I don't find those comments annoying. Just find them awesome and inspirering, but I do understand where you're getting at. Lol. Thanks for reading! ^^

**Kissara:** You will find that answer about the dangerous people soon.. ish. I can't be percisive when y'all meet them, but you will meet them! Glad that you remember about them! Thank you, I will sure to do that. :)

**Mr. Mezel:** Ooh, long review! You're the second person to say that, lol. Apparently I worded it right for the 'I'll kill you' part. And, it would be much, but if someone did try hurting Yugi and Atem found out about it, then he would go to extremes. (Danny was someone different cuz Yugi was handling it, kind of) Also, 'I'll harm you' doesn't sound as good as 'I'll kill you.' It would have ruined the moment!

I'm glad you ain't as shy anymore. ^^ I always thinks its better when the author replies back, because then it shows that the author really cares about what you say. I have a few stories I read and always leave reviews, but never hear back from them. I don't like that. . And, I will always give my viewers attention. I will make the time to reply to y'all because y'all are worth it! You gave the time to read and review my story, I can at least give you the respect to reply back XD

Hm... I'll take that into my account. I will try to find a way where both you and my other reader gets what they want. It'll be difficult, but I will still try. And about Joey and Tristan, Joey, well, his heart belongs to Mai, but I don't know how to write to her, so I don't. And Tristan, I'm still thinking on it. I might have a new story come out where it's all about Tristan getting a girlfriend, but that's still way into the future! I haven't decided yet. Lyla, I will try to find something though. I can't leave your opinion out and I can't with any ones else.

Lisa: oooooooooooh, caaaake! I want cake, damn it!

…. Not helping, but, I do like cake too! ^^ 'Specially cupcakes! And, you weren't being rude, just starting your opinion. I get it! hehe,

Oh, and the thing about Atem, don't worry, you might just be getting what you want. ^^ But, that will be in like two chapters from now. I'll try to add him more. Just kind of hard. Nope. Longer reviews, mean longer and better chapters. I love long reviews! They are inspiering and awesome and always give me something to think back on. Hehehe!


	14. Author's Note

Hello my readers! ^^ I know this is a shocker to some, because I'm updating so early, but, this ain't an update. I just needed to tell y'all that my next chapter is being on hold because I'm having some trouble with it.

Lisa: She's getting help from a professional!

Yuppers! It's something big in the chapter that I'm stuck on and have no idea how to write it. Duel's are not my special-t. Especially when this time, I'm doing it from beginning to end. I always either do it from just the beginning or the end and never the whole thing, so this time, I'm treating y'all to a nice duel. But, I'm getting help with it!

Lisa: To top that sucker, school's about to start for Kairi. Tuesday to be exact. She's going to be very busy and the update's might also be slow. She just can't multi-task.

Hey! Can too! But, not with this! If I multi-task, the chapter will turn out bad. . And I don't want that.

Lisa: You're just making excuses again.

No I'm not! It's true! But... grr, anyways, another reason why it'll be a while for me to update for... let's just be safe and say over the next three weeks, if I'm updating slow, is because, besides school, I'm going to be having my sweet sixteen party! Well, kind of. I'm not having a party. :/ Probably just with my family.

Lisa: And don't forget Drivers Ed. Yup, my cute little hikari is going to be going to driving school! Ain't that so cute?

You're going too... -.-

Lisa: Nope! I already have my license ~Shows ID~

Where'd you get this?

Lisa: Where do you think?

o.o How long have you had this without my knowing?

Lisa: A while. You just don't pay attention.

… I guess I don't. No fair! .

But yeah, I think that's all I had to say.

Lisa: To clear it all up for you, Kairi will be slow in updating due to all that stuff that's goin' to happen. When she get's everything figured out, she'll let you know. Until then, chow!

Byes! Thanks for the understanding! :)


	15. Did This Really Just Happen?

Well, this is where the fun parts happen!

Lisa: Shh, don't tell them!

I'm not! They have to read first! XD

Oh, and just in case if some of y'all didn't know, I added a new story up! ^^ It's just a two-shot and it's called _I'll See You Again Someday _if you want to read it. ^^ It's kind of sad, but it's really good! Please check it out if you're bored and need something to read!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Chapter Thirteen:

"Yugi, are you almost done in there?" Atem groaned as he sat by the door of the bathroom. He laid his head against the wall, closing his eyes. He's been sitting here for the last ten minutes, waiting to take a shower. "You've been in there forever!"

"Hold on, I'm almost done!" Came the muffled voice of his Light. Yugi was touching up his wounds with the make-up his mother left in his room to cover up all of the bruises. The ones on his face were the ones that was most noticeable, so he had to cover them. A small bruise on his lower jaw from when Danny punched him and one on his temple. He had bruises all throughout his arms and chest and sides, but lucky for him, his clothes covered those ones up.

He stared at himself in the mirror and his eyes never left the hand shape bruise around his neck. Long finger prints wrapping around his throat, He flinched when he remembered his father grabbed him twice and squeezed his throat. Quickly, he started to apply the cover-up.

'_I'm not supposed to go to school,' _He thought as he was dabbing the stuff on, '_but, I am. He can't tell me what to do. And, I will tell Atem. I know I will.' _He paused and checked himself, noticing that he looked as good as new on the outside, but felt horrible and sore on the in. Can't do anything about that. Though, he made sure he took the bottle of Advil from the medicine cabinet just to be safe and not to hurt as much during school. At least he didn't have PE today.

When he finished up, he quickly cleaned his mess by wiping the counter with a towel and throwing the towel in the basket and stuffed the cover-up container in his pocket and grabbed his night clothes from the ground. He checked himself in the mirror once more, making sure no bruise or purple mark was showing before going over to the door and quietly opening it. He left the light on since his brother will be using it.

"'Kay, all yours," he smiled and walked out, looking at his brother. He stepped to the side.

Atem rose to his feet and gathered his clothes, "Finally, you took forever!" He said and then joked, "What were you doing, putting make-up on?"

Yugi froze up for a second before putting on a fake smile and rolled his eyes, "W-what, you think I'm a girl?" He frowned and stuck his tongue out to make it seem more normal.

The pharaoh from long ago frowned and felt something different about his Light. His stance was a little sloppy and he had that look to his eye that he was hurting, just like all of those years ago. But, before he could ask anything about it, Yugi excuse himself and went to his room. '_I need to find out what's up with him.' _He thought and walked into the bathroom.

XxxxX

Yugi quickly downed a bowl of cereal, barely having time to taste it when his brother came into the room, looking fresh. He walked over to the fridge and pulled out the pitcher of Orange Juice and glanced over to his brother.

"You're in a hurry today, aren't you?" He asked and poured himself some juice from a cup he pulled from the cabinet. He leaned against the counter and took a sip.

"Kind of," Yugi mumbled and put his bowl in the dish drain. He rinsed it out and placed it into the dish washer. "I just really want to get to school," '_And not be home when my father wakes up... though I really don't know when he gets up. I know the first thing he'll do is come here to check up on me and mom, since Jii-chan is going out again today.' _He stood in place, itching to do something.

Atem noticed , "What could be at school that your in a hurry for?"

The younger brother shrugged, "Nothing important,"

"Then why do you want to-,"

"Just do!" Yugi cut in, being a little harsh and out of character. He looked at his brother and immediately felt ashamed for the rudeness. "Uh, sorry. I just … don't want to be here right now." He said in a soft voice. He looked away and then said, "I uh... I gotta go brush my teeth." And he quickly left the room, even though he had brushed his teeth before he ate, just trying to mix his schedule up.

Atem frowned and watched his brother retreat. He set his glass down and quickly followed after him. Luckily for him, he managed to get a hold of him before Yugi had a chance to run up the stairs. "Yugi," he said and grabbed his wrist.

Yugi froze and didn't look at his brother as he said, "Yeah?"

"What is going on?" He asked. "You're acting different this morning. And not only this morning, but yesterday when me and Jii-chan got home, you were more quiet."

"Nothings wrong," Yugi said and tried to pull his wrist away. "Just some stuff I'm trying to work out, that's all."

"There's a lot that is wrong." Atem still wouldn't let go and walked around his brother to the front of him. "You're being distant." He said, "And I don't like it. Please, Yugi, tell me what is wrong." When his Light didn't say anything and wouldn't even look at him, he continued, "Is it your father?" He knew he had hit the jackpot when he saw the boy flinch. "Are you still doubting yourself?"

"..."

"Yugi, please, tell me what the problem is. I swear that I will help you."

Ever so quiet that Atem wasn't even positive if his Light had spoke, Yugi said, "I can't..."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because! If I tell you, then someone will get hurt!" Yugi suddenly looked up with fearful eyes. They were a bit glazed over like he was getting ready to cry when he suddenly yanked his wrist away and instead of going up the stairs, ran towards the shop. "I'm going to school!" He yelled over his shoulder and scooped his bag up and slipped his shoes on. As quickly as he could, he opened the door and vanished from sight.

Atem stood in the exact place as he watched his Light. He frowned. "What is happening?" He asked himself.

Out of nowhere, Iggi came walking around the corner, whining and came to a halt next to Atem. Like the human, he stared at the door where his owner had just left. He didn't even get a good bye from him. He missed his owner.

'_If I tell you, then someone will get hurt!' _Yugi's words kept echoing around in his mind. He couldn't understand what was going on but knew his father was causing a lot more problems then he thought.

"Yugi..."

XxxxX

By the time Atem got to school, leaving about ten to fifteen minutes after his brother, he found that Yugi was already sitting at his desk, working on something. Tea and Joey were off on the side, talking to each other. Tristan was nowhere in sight yet because his sister was still sick, but he would be coming in later. He walked into his homeroom, greeting a few friends that were already there and went over by his friends.

"Hey, Atem." Joey grinned and watched as the ex-pharaoh sat down at his desk. The blond sat on the edge and said, "Where were you?Me and Tea were waitin' for you and Yugi but you two never showed up."

"Sorry, Joey, I was running late," Atem lied as he set his book bag down on the ground beside him.

Tea sat on the other side of him and lean forward, looking concerned. In a soft voice, she asked him, "Do you know what's wrong with Yugi? When me and Joey got here, he would barely acknowledge us and he was well, early today. Did you two have a fight or something?"

Atem glanced over at his other half who was still busy writing and looked away. He sighed, "I do not know. Something is wrong and he won't tell me."

Over the next fifteen minutes, kids were still filing in to their homerooms. Tristan had made it in right when the minute bell rung. Kids were running around outside in the hallways, trying to get to class before they were late. Right when the bell rung, the teacher came in and did a silent attendance.

"You may talk among yourselves," she said and went over to her computer.

Tristan looked over and noticed the quietness. "Hey, not that I'm complaining or anything, but, why is it so quiet?"

"Since when would you complain?" Tea rolled her eyes and sat in her original seat, in front of her boyfriend. Though, she was turned in it so she could talk with her friends.

"I don't know, since it's quiet? A little too quiet." He raised an eyebrow and turned around in his chair. He sat on the other side of Atem, where Tea had just been occupying and looked around his group of friends.

Joey, who sat in front of Atem, looked over to Tristan and in a silent gesture, tilted his head over towards their star-shaped hair friend who was busy writing stuff down. Tristan looked and frowned.

"What's up with him?" He asked.

"No one knows," Joey answered, "Not even Atem." he watched his best friend stop writing and looked out the window, a distant look to his eyes. Suddenly, Joey knew what to do. "I got it!" He almost yelled, but just said it loud enough from his friends to hear. They looked at him, curious.

"Got what?" Tea asked.

Joey grinned and pulled a set of cards out of his backpack. "The cure to figure out what's wrong with Yugi. But, we gotta switch seats," he said to Tea who frowned but after a minute, got up and went to take Joey's seat instead. He stood up from his desk and walked around Atem to the back of his best friend's chair. Being quiet, he walked around Yugi's desk and sat down in the seat Tea was just occupying and sat down. He turned around to face his bud and slammed his hand on the table, getting the other to almost jump a foot into the air.

Yugi looked over to find Joey facing him. "W-what're you-,"

Joey held a hand up and cut his friend off, "You, me, duel. Right now. And no objections," he said when he noticed his friend start to open his mouth.

Yugi frowned and as he watched his friend start to shuffle his deck, he sighed. No way he was getting rid of him. So, he cleared his desk off and pulled out his deck from his belt holder. Being the King of Games, he never went anywhere without his loyal deck.

At the sight that his brother was doing something, Atem sighed in relief.

"So, which deck are you usin', Yuge?" Joey asked as they switched decks so that they could shuffle the others.

Yugi smiled as he felt himself almost relax. "Battle City." He said. He saw a spark of interest in his brother's eye out of the corner of his own. When Atem came back, they both still had their own separate decks, the ones they used to duel each other in the Ceremonial Duel. But, Yugi missed the old deck that they both had put together, so they started a search to rebuild that deck without having to separate their own. After a few months, they found every card (minus the God Cards) and put the deck together. Yugi also liked to use this deck more then his old one.

Joey raised an eyebrow but held a smirk on his face. "Ah, a challenge." They gave each other their deck back.

"Why bother in playing him?" A voice sounded. "You're just going to get your butt beat."

They all looked over to find Kaiba sitting at his desk, only two over from them. He had his laptop out and was busy typing away. For once, he was actually at school.

"Just because you always lose to him," Joey growled, "doesn't mean I'm not allowed to duel him."

Tristan nodded, "Yeah, Joey may not be as good as a duelist, but he still tries." He received a 'Hey!' from his blond friend but he ignored it. "Even if he loses to everyone, at least he doesn't get all ruffled up like someone we know. He just takes his defeat as encouragement to try again."

Kaiba rolled his eyes but kept them on his computer screen. "Right."

Yugi looked away from Kaiba. "C'mon, let's just duel." He drew five cards from his pile as did Joey. "You can go first," he said as he examined his cards and set them in order.

Tristan, who loved keeping the tally, got a piece of paper out if his backpack and wrote Yugi's and Joey's name down and then right below each name, he wrote four-thousand.

Joey nodded and smiled. He exclaimed his hand and then drew his sixth card. An interesting hand to start with. "Well, to start things off with, I play Alligator's Sword in defense mode and then play one card face down." He played the monster sideways and below it played a face down card.

Yugi nodded and drew a card from his deck. He scanned his hand; Electromagnetic Turtle, Magic Formula, Kings Knight, Multiply, Card Destruction and the card he just drew, Alpha the Magnet Warrior. He grabbed Alpha and said, "I play Alpha the Magnet Warrior in defense mode and end my turn."

The blond drew Magic Arm Shield but he added that to his hand. He grabbed a different card from his hand and played it in Attack Mode. "I play Rocket Warrior in Attack mode and then use him to attack your Alpha." Yugi took his card and placed it in his pretend graveyard.

Atem got up from his seat and went to stand behind his brother, putting his arms on his head and then resting his chin on them. He examined Yugi's hand.

"Atem," Yugi groaned, trying to shake him off, worried that the older of the two would mess up his hair.

"What? Just lookin'," But he grinned.

Yugi rolled his eyes but drew a card from his deck. Life Shaver. He played it face down and the summoned King's Knight in defense mode. He looked to Joey who drew. Then, without playing anything, looked up, ending his turn.

'_Must not have gotten anything good,' _Yugi thought and drew De-Spell. He gave a mental smile and played it face down and then turned his monster card to attacking. "Okay, I switch Kings Knight to Offense mode and then attack your Rocket Warrior."

"Haha!" Joey gave a trumpet smile and and flipped his face down card, revealing it to be a trap card. "I play Kunai with Chain and equip it with my Rocket Warrior, giving it an extra five-hundred point boost. And since my Warrior is now at two thousand points and your Kings Knight is only sixteen-hundred points, you lose four-hundred points." He looked over to Tristan who subtracted four hundred life points from Yugi, bringing him down to thirty-six hundred.

Atem raised an eyebrow, knowing that his partner did have a card that could have canceled Joey's attack out. He mentally shrugged, thinking that he was going to be using it for something else. He stood back up straight and went over to Tea to talk.

"So, anything fun happen with you last night?" Atem asked as he sat back into his seat.

Tea looked away from the battle and shrugged. "Same old same old," she said. Then her face brightened up, "Actually, something did happen."

"Like what?"

"Well, someone came to my house and dropped a box off." She said like he didn't know. She had this spark in her eye and she was grinning real big.

Atem frowned, not understanding, "Who came by your house?"

"Like you don't know,"

"... I don't." He said.

Tea frowned now, "You don't? Didn't Yugi tell you? I thought he always did."

They both looked over to their friend who played his Electromagnetic Turtle in defense mode and ended his turn.

Just as Joey drew a card, added it to his hand and played a different card face-down, Tea called over to her boyfriend, "Hey, Yugi?"

Said name looked up with his eyebrows raised. "Yeah?"

"By any chance, did you send me anything of late? Like a box?" She asked, trying to show Atem that he did send her something.

Yugi thought back for a minute and then slowly shook his head, "No, I haven't. Why do you ask?"

Tea frowned and bit her lip, "Huh, that's weird, then."

"What is?" Joey asked and examined the battle field.

"Well, last night, someone dropped a box at my house. It was for me and inside had a single red rose in it. The person who dropped it off said that it was from Yugi."

Yugi felt something flip inside his stomach. He never sent anything like that to Tea before. And anyways, if he was going to do something like that, he would do it in person, to show how much he really loved her. Then it dawned on him and he felt a nervous sweat trickle down the back of his neck. He had to ask, just to make sure.

"Uh, Tea? Did you ever get a look at who dropped the rose off?" He asked. "Like his face?"

She nodded, "Actually, I did. He looked more like a business man then one to be dropping boxes off. But, he looked old, maybe late thirties early forty's? Uh... he had really black hair with a little of gray entering it, so he must be in his forties. What really got me was his eyes."

Yugi could feel his heart speed up as he silently prayed in his mind, _'Please, please don't say blue. Please please please!' _Under the table, where no one could see, he crossed his fingers.

"They were an icy shade of blue." Yugi's heart fell as he identified who the stranger was. "Though, minus that, he was friendly and had a nice look to him." She smiled a bit. "In a way, he kind of reminded me of you, Yugi. Maybe it was just the style of his hair? I don't know."

"Did he say what his name was?" Atem asked, having a feeling he also knew who this was. When he took a quick peak over at his partner, who suddenly looked a bit pale around the edges and had those scared eyes, he felt his feeling get stronger.

Tea shook her head, "He didn't have a name tag or anything." She looked over to her boyfriend and noticed how he looked a bit different, "Are you alright, Yugi?"

Said name shook his head, "Y-yeah... Just peachy." He looked away and tried to focus on the duel. "My t-turn, right?" Joey nodded his head and was oblivious to his pal's emotion. He drew Magic Cylinder and placed it face down and then ended his turn.

Joey drew a card, but ended his turn. "Huh, so a random person just sent you a flower?" He asked Tea.

"I guess..." She said.

Atem stayed quiet and started to watch his partner.

'_Crap... Crap, crap, crap, crap! He went to Tea's house!' _He drew a card and then said, "I uh... sacrifice Electromagnetic Turtle to bring out Berfomet." He said and swapped the turtle out for the card he just drew. "And when Berfomet is on the field, I can automatically summon Gazelle the King of Mythical Beast to play." He grabbed his deck and started to search for the card. Once he found it, he added it to the field and then reshuffled his deck and placed it back in its original spot.

Joey frowned, seeing the duel becoming intense. "Alright, my turn." He drew a card and added it to his hand. After looking at the field, he grabbed his Graverobber card from his hand and placed it face down on the field. "Now, I use my Rocket Warrior to attack your Berformet.'

Yugi gave a sideways grin and, before the attack could finish, flipped over his face down card Magic Cylinder. "I play Magic Cylinder which negates your attack and sends it right back at you. So, your Rocket Warrior is gone and you get a two-thousand point hit." Tristan subtracted the said amount from Joey's Life Points, bring him down to two-thousand.

Joey picked his Rocket Warrior and the card equipped to it, Kunai with Chain up and placed it in the graveyard. "Alright, I play Axe Raider in defense mode and end my turn."

'_He wasn't kidding when he said he would hurt one of my friends if I didn't listen to him.'_ He thought. '_I thought he was bluffing... But, if he went to Tea's house last night then... Crap, he was making sure Tea would mention something like this to give me a last warning.' _He drew Polymerization from his deck and then used it to fuse Berformet and Gazelle together. "Now they become Chimera, the Flying Mythical Beasts... I end my turn." He said.

"My turn," Joey announced a little too loud and a few students looked over and noticed that they were playing Duel Monsters. He drew Time Wizard and then ended his turn.

Kaiba snorted upon hearing the blond's turn. "What, are you not getting the cards you want?"

If you could choose what find of fish Joey would be, he would definitely be a blow fish. He puffed up and glared over to the young CEO, "One, mind your own business, but if you were curious, I have a plan in my head!" When in reality, he was really waiting for a certain card to show up.

Yugi drew a card without saying anything. As he thought about what his father's reaction would be when he finds out Yugi wasn't at home packing, he played the card he just drew in attack mode. He ended his turn.

"Uh, Yugi?" Tristan frowned, watching as his friend played Mystical Elf. "Did you mean to do that?"

Before Yugi could answer, Joey turned back and drew a card from his pile, oblivious to what Yugi played. When he saw what card he drew, he grinned, "Yes! The exact card I was hoping for! I play Baby Dragon on the field in Attack mode and then I use my Polymerization to fuse the dragon with Time Wizard!" When you're doing this on table top, you had to use a coin to indicate if your fusion was a success. He reached into his pocket, in search for a coin. "I know I had some change from yesterday..." He said and went to his other pocket when he came up with nothing.

In his other pocket, he pulled out a six-sided die and lint. "Damn... I must have cleaned my pockets out without remembering." Joey frowned and looked over to his brunette friend. "Tristan, have any spare change on you?"

"Oh, right, and I better get it back," He said and reached into his pocket and brought out a penny.

Joey grinned and flipped the coin into the air. As it was coming down, he called out, "Tails," and caught it in his hand and laid in on the table. And sure enough, the coin was showing Tails. "Hell yeah! Well, after the fusion, Baby Dragon becomes Thousand Year Dragon and then I use it to attack your Chimera!"

Yugi sighed in relief that his friend didn't attack Mystical Elf who had eighteen-hundred attack points, and put his decreased cards into the graveyard. Tristan subtracted three hundred life points from Yugi's side who was now at thirty-three hundred while Joey was still at two-thousand.

Yugi drew from his deck, Soul Taker, before adding it to his hand. "I change my Mystical Elf to defense mode and then I activate my face down card, Life Shaver. When this card is activated, the opponent must discard one card from their hand for each of your turns." He said, not even bothering with reading the card. He ended his turn and looked at his hand as his mind switched back to his father.

Atem frowned. Why would he use that card? Especially out of the blue?

Joey didn't see anything wrong with it and drew a card, which he just added to his hand without really seeing it. "I use Thousand Year Dragon to attack your Mystical Elf and then switch my Axe Raider to Attack mode and use him to attack you directly." He set one card face down and discarded one card from his hand to the graveyard and ended his turn.

As Yugi discarded his Mystical Elf, Tristan tallied the score. "Yugi is down to twenty-six hundred while Joey remains at two thousand."

_'Oh, and I don't expect you to repeat any of this. Just remember about your friends; their life is in your hands.'_

Those words kept echoing around in Yugi's mind as he drew his next card; Dust Tornado. Those words were what his father had told him, in which Yugi ignored, just thinking that his father was really bluffing. "I play two cards face down on the field," he said, placing Dust Tornado and Magic Formula down, "and then I use this card, Card Destruction. Now we both discard our hand and draw the same number of cards." He placed his hand, containing all of two cards, and drew two new. Monster Reborn and Feral Imp. "I play Feral Imp in defense mode and end my turn." He looked away from the duel and over to the window, trying to sort his brain out.

"Man... And I actually liked my hand," Joey pouted but discarded his three cards and drew three new ones. Since it was now his turn, he discarded a card and then played Scapegoat face down and ended his turn.

When Yugi didn't right away respond, Joey raised an eyebrow, "Yuge, it's your turn."

Said name blinked and returned his gaze back to the game, "Sorry. He drew Spell Textbook and ended his turn.

Joey drew a card and then discarded it. "Well, use Axe Raider to attack your Feral Imp and then," he said as Yugi took his Feral Imp card and placed it in his graveyard, "I use my Thousand Year Dragon to attack your directly."

"Dude, you just lost twenty-four hundred points," Tristan said to Yugi who just blinked, not affected. He subtracted the amount and Yugi went all the way down to two hundred life points.

The King of Games drew Pot of Greed. "I use Pot of Greed," and he drew two more cards; Neo the Magic Swordsmen and Dark Magician Girl. He looked at his hand, a plan forming. "Now, I use Monster Reborn to bring back Gazelle the King of Mystical Beasts." He put his hand down and started to look through his graveyard for the card. Once he found it, he grabbed another card from his hand and said, "Now, I sacrifice Gazelle and Neo the Magic Swordsmen to bring out Dark Magician Girl." He swapped it all out for the female magician. "And now, I equip Magic Formula," he said and flipped his magic card over. "Once this card is equipped to a magician, he or she gains seven hundred attack points, bringing Dark Magician Girl up to twenty-seven hundred attack points. Now I sent her to destroy your Thousand Dragon."

Atem smiled with approval, glad that Yugi was doing a little more than just drawing and putting a card down. Still in his mind about Yugi's father, he turned to Tea and started to just talk.

"Heh, not so fast, Yuge," Joey smirked and flipped on of his face down cards up. It was Scapegoat. "I play Scapegoat, and now, you have to defeat my other three little colorful goats before you can touch my monsters."

Yugi frowned, but nodded, "I knew you had something planned."

Joey drew his next card but sends it to the graveyard.

Yugi drew Magical Dimension but passed.

Joey drew his next card and smiled. "Now, I use Pot of Greed." He drew two new cards and kept a straight face when he drew his most favorite, trusted card in all of his deck. He sent a card he didn't need to his graveyard and then said out loud, "Now, I sacrifice Axe Raider and Alligator's Sword to bring out my baby; Red Eyes. Next, I play Energy Drain. This card increases the attack and defense of any monster I choose by the amount of cards in my opponents hand by two hundred points. And since you have two cards, Yuge, Red Eyes is increased by four hundred points, giving him twenty-eight hundred attack points. And now, I send him to attack your Dark Magician Girl!"

Quickly, Yugi reveals his face down card which happened to be De-Spell, which would destroy one card on the field. "I activate De-Spell and destroy your Energy Drain. Since my Dark Magician Girl has twenty-seven hundred attack points, and your Red Eyes is only Twenty-four hundred, you'll lose life points." He said.

But Joey just smirked and flipped his own card, "I ain't done yet, Yuge. I play Skull Dice." He grabbed the die that he left on the table and rolled it. The die landed on a four. "Ha! Four hundred points are subtracted for your magician, bringing her down to twenty-three hundred. And Red Eyes is a hundred points higher, so your Dark Magician Girl is destroyed."

Yugi nodded, "But, since Magic Formula is also destroyed, I gain one thousand life points." He said and Tristan added that amount to Yugi's life points.

"Yugi is at eleven hundred life points while Joey remains at two thousand still." Tristan announced.

Yugi looked at his hand and drew one card. He bit his lip and played it in defense mode and ended his turn. '_I wonder if he'll come to school to get me... He did say that we would be leaving today or tomorrow early in the morning...' _He thought. '_I don't think it can wait till lunch, I might have to tell Atem now and tell everyone else later. He'll know what to do.' _

Joey drew Gearfried the Iron Knight but sent it to the grave. "Know, I use my Thousand Year Dragon to attack your Queen's Knight. And, since your Life Points are wide open, I use my Red Eyes to attack you directly."

Tristan wrote Red Eyes Attack on the paper and the little minus sign and was about to subtract twenty-four hundred life points from Yugi, but stopped. He looked up, eyes wide and his mouth opened in an O-shape.

From the corner of his eye, Joey looked up, "What's up?" He asked, not noticing he just won.

Tristan didn't say anything and moved the paper to where his blond friend could see. When Joey did the math, he jumped to his feet, knocking his chair over in the process. "WHAT?" He yelled, causing everyone in the room to stop what they were doing, even Kaiba and the teacher.

Kaiba looked over and smirked, "What, did you lose for the millionth time?" He paused in his typing.

Joey could only stare at the paper and he violently shook his head. He then held the paper out to where the CEO could see it and the rest of the room at the matter.

As the room read the score, Yugi wasn't paying attention and looked out the window, wondering how he should tell his brother. He didn't even notice his best friend's loud racket when he jumped to his feet nor the room going from loud to a dead silence. When he did notice, however, he looked away from the window to many wide, disbelieving eyes. Every pair or eyes in the room were on him, making him shift uncomfortably in his seat.

"What?" Kaiba was suddenly on his feet and snatched the paper away from Joey and scanned it over. "How is this possible? How is it that the second rate duelist beats the King of Games?"

Yugi raised both of his eyebrows. For the first time, he just now realized he had lost. "Oh..." He looked up to Joey and smiled, " Good job, Joey. It was a good game." He started to collect his cards.

"Whoa whoa," Joey said, ignoring Kaiba's insult and looked at his friend who looked up with curious eyes. "I can't believe this... I want a re-match!"

Yugi frowned, "but, you won fair and square. Why would you –,"

"You weren't really paying attention, so how would that be far?" Tristan interrupted him.

Joey nodded, "Yeah, I don't really think that's far. So, I want a re-match!"

Yugi opened his mouth to come up with something, but nothing would come out. Thankfully, Atem was there and came to the rescue. "Joey, you might want to save that for another day," he said, "if you re-duel him now, it's most likely be the same result."

"And why would that be?" Kaiba asked, his eyes narrowed.

Atem looked at him and crossed his arms over his chest, "Because his mind is else where. Before you ask where it is, we're having family problems."

Yugi bit the inside if his cheek and sighed. He looked up and once again opened his mouth to speak when he was once again, cut off by something. And this something just happened to be the bell, indicating homeroom was over and it was time to go to the next class.

The students were all still surprised but quickly gather their things and got up. The muttering started up, all of it having to do with, 'Yugi just lost? Was it on purpose?' and many more. Most likely, by lunch time, the whole school will be informed about the duel.

Kaiba looked back and forth between the two brothers before saying, "It better just be because Yugi is thinking of other things. I will have no respect for you if you did it on purpose." being as dramatic as ever, he turned around and closed his laptop and picked his bag up, going to his next class.

All that left were the gang. They were still a little speechless.

Yugi looked around them and then lowered his gaze, "C'mon, or we'll be late for English." He said and grabbed his bag from the floor. Joey quickly grabbed his deck and stuck it into his pocket.

As they were walking out, Tea watched her boyfriend, "Are you sure you're okay?" She gently asked.

"Yeah..." Yugi said. He looked at her and said with an honest voice, "Will... will you give me some space? I really need time to think." He tried to ignore the hurt look he received from his childhood friend and watched her nodded her head.

"I'll wait." She said and walked on ahead, grabbing Joey and Tristan by the arms. She pulled them out of the door and into the hallway.

"Hey! What're you doing?" They both yelped in unison as they were dragged away.

Man, Tea knew him really well. Yugi couldn't help but smile, silently thanking her. Atem was waiting for him at the door, an eyebrow raised from what just happened.

Yugi took a deep breath. '_It's now or never,' _He thought and then met up with his brother.

"What was that about?" Atem asked.

"You'll see," Yugi said and grabbed hold of his brother's arm and walked out of the classroom and into the busy hallway. He looked around, watching his three friends head in one direction. "I need to talk to you." He said and looked at Atem. Before giving his Dark time to reply, he located the closest bathroom and started to walk there, weaving in and out of people.

"Y-Yugi!" Atem gripped as he was being dragged. When his Light didn't respond, he said, "Will you slow down?"

But Yugi kept going until he reached the bathroom. He opened the boys door and walked in and would release his brother until they both were in. Yugi looked around and noticed that it was rather empty, which was strange. But, he wasn't complaining. He looked at his brother who was frowning at him.

"Yugi, what's wrong?" He asked.

Said name shook his head and didn't answer. Instead, he said, "Atem, I'm tired of lying and I can't keep this inside anymore. I have to tell you otherwise it'll be too late."

XxxxX Till next time!

And this chapter was supposed to reveal the big plot, but, it was just going to be too long, so I broke it in half. Sorry! Please tell me how you like the duel! It's not the best, but it ain't the worst!

And I just wanted to thank you all for understanding! ^^ And I would love to give a shout out to DarkHeartInTheSky for beta-ing my duel. I give her a big thanks!

Reviews:

**AnzuFan:** :D I like to be the unexpected, so much fun! (Though, it's hard to do, :o) And thanks!

**Couldn'tThinkOfaName:** I think this will be the only time you see Kaiba, in this chapter. I haven't really given him any big speaking part throughout the rest of my story... I don't know, things do change, so you might see him again? No idea. And yup! PM = Private Messaging. And I will await for it! ^^

The joy to reading stories, you never know what to expect, so, expect the unexpected. I loved how no one saw that coming, it's so awesome! (It that weird, way of mine) Yeah... I will need to look back on my chapters. I guess I accidentally keep forgetting to look at his... I will look everything over again. Double check! XD Send as many as you want! You always have something interesting and fun to say! Hehehe!

**Mr. Mezel:** You're spelling is getting better, though every time you ask a question, put question marks. ? ← that. Some words are still a bit iffy, but you're doing a great job! And of course, I love long reviews! Always makes me happy. If you haven't noticed, I'm a Yugi girl, just gotta love him! He's my favorite, Hehehe. And to answer a few of your questions, I will just say Yugi's dad is great at making plans! Just like Yugi, he thinks everything through to the least thing possible. Yup :D

I really don't know. I just love to torture him because every one reacts. If you think about it, If let's say Joey got hurt, yeah people will be mad and sad and whatnot, but Yugi, he has big strong people to beat the other person up. And he has Atem also. You know Atem, Hehehe. And also, it's just easy to hurt him. :) I hope this chapter was good for explaining that Atem found out. :)

Lisa: CUPCAKES! ~Gobbles them all down~

Hehe, I think she likes them. I take what my readers say to the heart whether it's nice or not. I care for my readers and just want them to be happy. And the next couple of chapters, you will be seeing Atem a lot; now that he and Yugi are separated. And yup, that's a good face. (^_^ = happy. T.T or T_T =sad. x.x = generally means that you uh... It's hard to describe that one. Like it could be exhaustion or something... I don't know.) Thanks for reviewing! XD


	16. He Succeeds in His Plans

**Edited: February 17th, 2012 for changing a certain paragraph. Hope Yugi doesn't sound _as_ weak than from before**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Chapter Fourteen:

_Said name shook his head and didn't answer. Instead, he said, "Atem, I'm tired of lying and I can't keep this inside anymore. I have to tell you otherwise it'll be too late."_

_!_

Atem slowly nodded and waited for his partner to go on.

Yugi paused and looked around the bathroom, noticing a boy run in and over to the stalls, but first turning one of the hand dryers on. The boy didn't even see him or Atem next to the sinks as he hurried to do his business in the only seven minutes of passing period. He turned back to his brother and took a deep breath.

"I… I need your help now. I thought I could do it myself, but it's not working out. I feel like an idiot for trying to do things on my own for once. Nothing is working and it feels like I've only made things worse."

Atem frowned. He had an idea on what his brother was talking about, but wanted him to say it aloud. "What do you need help with?"

The younger teen bit his cheek and looked away from his Dark. "My dad won't take no for an answer and is trying everything in his power to bring me and mom back with him to where he lives. He's already trying to show me that if I won't go with him on my own terms or that if I tell anyone, he's going to hurt one of my friends. And hearing Tea describe my dad…"

"He means it." Atem finished, his guess from earlier was right. It was Yugi's dad who gave Tea the rose.

He nodded and looked back up. "I wanted to tell you, but I got scared and thought I could handle this myself. I kept telling him that I wasn't going. He would never listen…" He looked away again and this time licked his thumb, and to Atem's confusion, wiped his thumb over his cheek as carefully as he could. He stopped when he heard a small intake of air from his brother and looked back up.

Atem had to bite his tongue and look away from Yugi when he saw the make-up being wiped away from a small area of his face. He didn't even want to look again to see how swollen it was with the yellow/purple skin. No doubt about it, he had even more bruises on him, probably being covered by more make-up or clothing.

"So he did that?" He asked, trying to keep his voice calm but barely succeeding with that. He curled his hands into fists at his side.

"Actually, Danny did this. But, because of my dad!" He quickly added when his brother looked back at him, his face having the words murder written all over it. "Might as well tell you everything…" Yugi sighed and started from the beginning when he had gone home to drop Iggi off when they were all at the park to being pushed down the stairs, "But, I didn't technically lie on that part; I did fall down the stairs."

"Yeah, but you were pushed…"

He continued on with explaining just the other night about his father coming to their house while he and grandpa went out to buy some things and then took a big breath and told him about last night on how he snuck out of the house to run over to Kaiba's for help, but two blocks away, he was caught. He went into minor details about the beating since he didn't find it necessary to explain it all.

"And then my dad showed up and took me home. He told me that I had to stay there and fake being sick so that I couldn't go to school so that I could stay home and pack." He finished, feeling a heavy weight being lifted off of his chest.

Atem thought for a moment, and then said, "You do know there is such a thing as a phone, right?" Yugi looked a little confused so he explained, "Couldn't you have just called Kaiba instead of running there?"

Yugi opened his mouth to answer and then closed it again. He looked at the ground thinking. "Huh, I never even thought about that… Never crossed my mind." Atem did a mental face palm to his own forehead as Yugi then added, "But, oh well. My dad probably would have found some way to disconnect the phone or whatever." He shrugged and looked back up.

"What will happen when your dad finds out you are not at home?" The ex-pharaoh asked.

His Light just shook his head, his eyes becoming slightly bigger with fear. "I-I don't know…" He leaned against the wall and bowed his head. "I don't know what to do anymore… Me trying to do all of this on my own haven't gotten me anywhere. I feel like I've let everyone down… especially mom."

Atem leaned against the wall next to his brother, "Aibou, you haven't let anyone down. There is still time left to figure this stuff out. And now that I know what has been happening, I won't let anything happen to you. Your father won't be coming near you. If things come to the worst, we'll just have to call the police. Never give up hope." He leaned towards him and bumped his shoulder with Yugi's.

"I don't know… I just have this feeling that something bad is about to happen." He looked up and met his brothers crimson eyes who softened. At that point, ruining the moment, a toilet flushed and the same little boy came rushing out. He finally saw the other two, waved, and washed his hands. Once they were washed, he dried them with a paper towel and left the bathroom just as the one minute bell rung, indicating that you had one minutes to get to class before you were late to class.

Atem pulled his brother into a tight hug, "You are not leaving this city," he said, "even if I have to duct tape you to a chair and glue that to the floor using whatever the strongest glue there is."

Yugi hugged him back and wrinkled his nose, "You've been around Joey too much," he said but understood his meaning.

"After school, we'll go straight home and call Jii-chan to go home also and we'll all talk. No one is going anywhere," he pulled back and grasped his partner's shoulders. "You understand? Chokichi is not going to separate this family. Not now, not ever."

XxxxX

"Ah, the Mouto brother's." The teacher raised an eyebrow as the two said last names hurried into class a minute after the bell had rung. As always when you are late to this class, you had to stand at the front of the class until the teacher said that you may go sit down. "And why are you late to my class this morning?"

Both of them stood at the front, Yugi looking down sheepishly while Atem seemed more relaxed and he answered, "We were talking." He said as politely as he could.

Everyone in the classroom was all as curious as the teacher herself. The brothers were talking! That's what made them late to class!

"And, what were you talking about that made you a minute late?" She asked.

Yugi looked up with a simple, dashing smile, "With all due respect, Mrs. Smith, we would like to keep that private." Before they had left the bathroom, Yugi reapplied that skin colored make-up so no one else would notice. Before the teacher could ask why, he added, "its family stuff."

Mrs. Smith nodded; understanding and she tilted her head in gesturing for the two students to go find their seats. As the two did so, going all the way to the back where their friends were, the teacher took a quick attendance and then said, "Today, we'll be spending the first thirty minutes talking in _only _English. You will find a partner and talk about what you did last night and what you are going to be doing over the weekend. And, if I hear any Japanese, you will have a zero in the grade book for this six-weeks."

The kids all groaned. This teacher was one of the coolest teachers in the school, always being nosy in other people's business like she was still a teenager, but when it came to grading, she took it seriously. She may be your friend and be fun (non-strict) but she still took her job seriously.

"Alright, find a partner and get to talking." She said in English.

The sound of chairs moving and people finding their partner's and talking was heard. The gang turned to one another and instead of finding one partner, they just chose the whole group. Joey was the first to speak, frowning he looked at the two look-a-likes.

"What were y'all talking about?" He asked in perfect English. He looked curious, as did the rest of their friends.

Yugi shook his head, "I'll tell you guys during lunch. But, I don't feel right saying it here…"

"Well, whatever it is, it must be important." Ryou said, a bit confused, though he didn't miss much.

"And why do you say that?" Tristan raised an eyebrow at the snow colored hair kid.

Ryou looked at him and started the facts, "Well, he first told Atem about it in secrecy, and then he said he wanted to talk to us at lunch, where we sit in a non-crowded area."

Yugi looked slightly embarrassed though he didn't know why he would. He was just about to say something when the teacher walked over with her arms crossed against her chest.

"You all are supposed to be talking about what you did last night, not what happened a few minutes ago or what you will be doing during lunch." She said. "Now will I have to separate you?" She always had fun with this. She usually didn't care if you got into a group instead of just having one partner, just as long as you did the assignment.

As Mrs. Smith was walking away, Tea made a face but looked around her male friends, "So, who wants to go first?" She looked over to her boyfriend.

Yugi thought about what he did last night and shook his head, "I'll pass…"

Atem's mind was elsewhere as he thought of a plan and easily said, "Pass."

Joey shrugged, "Went on a run and then ate take-out for supper." He looked over at Tristan.

"Well, let's see," he said and started to think about it, "I went home… played outside with Princess for an hour… went inside… ate supper with the family… did dishes… and watched TV with my sister." He shrugged, "Kind of boring if you asked me."

Ryou went next, "Well… there wasn't much I could do last night. Did homework and ate dinner." He also shrugged.

Yugi looked at him with a curious look, "What about the cat?" He asked. "Has he been causing anymore problems?"

"Well, yes, yes he has." He sighed. "He tore up one of my shirts and I found the remains under the couch when I was cleaning."

Joey frowned, "Are you sure that's a cat? Sounds more like a dog."

"What's the cat's name?" Tea asked

Ryou looked at her with a look that said _You-don't-want-to-know _look. He rubbed his temples and said in a soft voice, "Bakura named him… Mr. Fluffawuffagis."

"Fluffa_who?_" Tristan and Joey said in almost perfect unison.

"Fluff-a-wuff-a-gis." He repeated though this time slower. "Now before you ask, I don't know what was going through Bakura's mind when he named the cat."

Yugi cracked a smile as the two boys started snickering. He looked over to his Dark who was looking away from the group to something only he could see. Careful, Yugi swayed and bumped into his partner, snapping him out of his trance.

"You alright?" Yugi asked just as a loud knock on the door was heard, though, he didn't pay it any attention.

Atem blinked his eyes and shook his head, "Just thinking." He said.

"Well, I hope you're thinking in English," Tea smiled. "I don't think Mrs. Smith will be too happy if you weren't."

Speaking of Mrs. Smith, she went over to the door and answered the door. After she received the name, she looked around the room until she spotted him and said in a loud voice so she could be heard, "Yugi, there is someone at the door for you."

Yugi and the gang all looked up. "Wonder who that could be," Ryou wondered out loud.

"Probably the principal," Tristan said.

Joey nodded in agreement, "Yeah, probably going to take him away from being too good in school."

At this, Yugi rolled his eyes, "Ha ha, very funny." He excused himself and walked over to the door where the teacher smiled at him.

"He looks just like you," She said just as Yugi walked out of the door. That made him stop, but before he could turn around and go right back in, the door closed behind him, to give privacy, and a voice chilled him to the bone.

"Yugi." Chokichi said, leaning casually against the wall as he watched his son stand there.

"W-what are you doing here?" said name tried to sound calm but couldn't help but stutter a bit.

The older man straightened up and crossed his arms over his chest and looked at his son with piercing blue eyes. "I thought I told you to stay home and pack." He said, keeping his voice low and calm.

Yugi tried to relax, knowing that since they were in a school, his father couldn't do anything; he was safe. "And I t-told you that I am not leaving. So why should I pack if I'm not going anywhere?" He felt a little bit proud of himself right then, amazed that his voice _did _sound relax even though he was feeling the complete opposite.

Chokichi's eyes slightly narrowed. "I don't _care _if you don't want to come; you are coming whether you want to or not!"

Yugi took a step back, but not out of fear, but out of refusal, "No, I am not." He said. "I am staying here; this is my home. I am almost eighteen and about to graduate. I am not going to go to some other place and graduate high school without my friends. You aren't the boss of me. You never even had that privilege since you were never around when I was growing up." He crossed his arms against his chest to show that he was staying put.

"You talk big, but I doubt you will do anything about it."

Yugi smirked, every scared thought, every feared emotion he had of his father was no longer in his mind. He felt strong and not afraid. He felt like he changed in those few seconds from a coward to someone with more strength to stand up to people, like Joey or Tristan. No, he felt like Atem. That thought made him smile.

"Oh, I have already done something about it." He said simply, getting a frown from his father. "Atem already knows about everything and he won't let you get away with this. He will -,"

_Slap!_

Yugi's face was now turned to the side with a red mark on his check, in the shape of a hand print.

Chokichi glared at his son and said in a chilling voice, "I do not care anymore. In a couple of hours, we will be on a plane, going to Texas. If I have to, I will knock you unconscious. Now, for my plans to work, we need to leave now. Get inside that classroom and get you things; we. Are. Leaving. _Now." _He said with much authority.

Yugi felt numb. All of that proud feeling rushed out of him like a faucet turned on. He couldn't believe that his father just slapped him… and in public too! All he could do was nod his head and hid his eyes by his bangs shadowing them.

Meanwhile…

"I wonder what's taking Yugi so long," Tea wondered aloud as she glanced at the door. "It's been a couple of minutes…"

Atem was also looking over in that direction, not knowing what to feel; concern or angry or just be calm. He had this really weird feeling but he couldn't decide what it was about yet.

"Aw, it's probably just some teacher," Joey shrugged. At the sound of the door opening, he smiled and said, "See? He's comin' back, nothing to be concerned over."

They watched as their friend walked back into the class room, though he looked a bit different. When he took a few steps into the class room, someone else walked in after him. Everyone stopped talking and looked at the newcomer in interest.

As Tea caught the sight of the man, she gasped and said, "That's the guy that came to my house last night! The one who gave me rose."

Atem's gaze hardened as he glared at the man. He then looked over to where his brother was walking back towards them with his head down and his bangs shielding his eyes.

"Mrs. Smith," Chokichi said in calm, soothing voice, looking at the teacher with a dazzling smile.

The teacher stood up from her chair at her desk and walked over. She smiled and said, "Yes?"

"I just wanted to say that I will be taking Yugi home with me." He smiled and looked friendly.

The teacher nodded, "Alright, and what about Atem?" She asked, already knowing that this man here was both Yugi's and Atem's dad.

Chokichi slightly frowned, a bit confused, "Who?"

Mrs. Smith raised an eyebrow slightly and repeated, "Atem, your son?"

The class was quiet, watching the new man. They had never heard of Yugi and Atem having a father before. They all thought that he died or something.

"Uh…" Chokichi stalled for a minute, trying to think of an excuse besides, 'he is not my son', "Yugi has to be somewhere and I wouldn't want to take … Atem out of school when it doesn't have anything to do with him. He should stay in school, where he belongs so he can have a good education." He didn't know what he was talking about, but he kept it. He returned his smile.

Yugi reached his desk and didn't acknowledge his friends. He grabbed his bag and slipped his notebook inside and closed the bag. Just as he was sliding the strap over his shoulder, someone grabbed a hold of his arm.

"Yugi, are you alright?" Atem whispered, urgently.

"Y-yeah," he answered in a slightly dulled voice. He tried to get his arm back and succeeded. "Look, I have to go…" And he started to walk back up towards the front. He walked passed his friends who were now looking at him frowning.

Atem frowned, wondering why his partner was being distant again. Wasn't it just less than ten minutes ago that this same person told him that he wanted his help from his father? Then why was he walking up to him now? Unless something happened…

Mrs. Smith nodded her head, not knowing whether to buy it or not. She mentally shrugged, not really thinking anything of it and then told the man, "Well, let me get Yugi's homework. He has just two pages and its due -,"

"He won't need it." Chokichi interrupted her as his son can to a stop close to him, trying to put as much distance from him as possible.

"H-he won't? And why is that?"

Chokichi gave a fake surprised looked that he made seem real, "Why, he didn't tell you?" When he received a blank look, he continued on, "Yugi is moving. He and my wife are coming back with me to the United States."

Mrs. Smith's eyes widened in surprised and the class started to talk in hushed voices, surprised. "Oh really?" She said, recovering from her shock. She looked to her student and noticed that he was looking down at his feet and not saying a single word. "Well, that's really big news." She said and then wondered why the father never said Atem's name.

Chokichi nodded, "Yes, it is. We are packing and going to be leaving later today or very early in the morning so we have to be at home packing. So if you'll excuse us," he walked a little closer to his biological son and grasped his shoulder so he could lead him out of the room but Yugi flinched away. He ignored the movement and held tighter. He looked around the room and noticed his non-son was on his feet, glaring daggers at him and then the friends looking horrified about the news.

"C-certainly." Mrs. Smith looked to Yugi and said, "Well, Mr. Mutou, it was a pleasure having you in my class and I hope you like the USA."

Yugi nodded his head without looking up. In a soft voice he said, "Thank you and this was by far my favorite class."

"Yugi?" He didn't have to look up to know that his friends were on their feet, watching him.

Chokichi looked at the girl, Tea Gardener, and just smirked and shook his head with a triumph look. He looked back to the teacher and slightly bowed in politeness and steered his son away from the class to the door that he left opened. This was just too easy, especially since this was school and that if Atem had tried anything, he would be in major trouble.

Just as they were walking out of the room, Yugi finally did look up and looked straight at his friends with heart-broken eyes. So many emotions filled them but the one that showed the most was regret. Regret because he didn't tell them sooner.

The two walked out of the class.

XxxxX

"I can't believe you are stupid enough to think that you would be safe if you went to school," Chokichi growled as he drove Yugi back home. He glared out of the corner of his eye to where his son was starring out the window, not paying him any attention. "Hey, are you even listening to me?" He slapped one hand against the teen's shoulder, harder than necessary.

Yugi looked away from the scenery to his father and gave off the impression that he wasn't, "Sorry, what was that? I couldn't quiet hear you. Maybe if you left me in school, I could have sharpened my listening skills." Wow, was he feeling nothing like himself. It felt like someone had taken over his mind and voice like how he and Atem used to change.

Chokichi said in an even voice, "Use that voice one more time, and see what happens." He challenged.

Smirking, the teen opened his mouth but received a punch in the face. He felt the sting on his cheek as his eyes fixed on the dashboard. Not wanting to feel wimpy, he said in a low voice, "I hope you know, you're not going to get away with this."

Chokichi just smirk as he ignored his son's comment. Instead, he said, "When we get back to that shop, I expect you to go up to your room and start packing. If you do not pack, then oh well; you'll be taking nothing with you when we go. I'm giving you a chance to take what you want." He said and looked to where he was driving. "I'll give you fifteen minutes and then we will leave."

'_Why... Why am I so stupid to have not told anyone before things got out of hand?'_ Yugi thought miserably and gazed out the window. '_Why did I have to hide this like I was scared? I thought I was over all of that. I thought I had gathered enough courage to stand up for myself. I thought... Oh, who am I kidding?' _He glared at the passing shops. '_I haven't changed from before. I am still the useless kid from before. I know I proved that over the last week. I'm just useless...'_

'You are one of the strongest people I know, Yuge.'

Yugi blinked and straightened up in his seat. He knew he had heard that in his mind because it was familiar, not only because he knew it belonged to his best friend, but because he remembered Joey saying that a year or two ago. He kept his head looking straight but out of the corner of his eye, saw his father turn his head just a bit at the shifting.

'You've save our lives countless of times.' Tea's voice sounded. 'And it wasn't Yami who saved us. It was you.'

'You have grown up so much these past few years,' Grandpa's voice filled his mind, sounding proud. 'You are no longer that little shy kid.' That was from when he and Yugi were just staying up watching TV and they were on commercial.

Many more compliments and praises filled his head as he remembered them all. They all were disagreeing with him on being useless and weak. That made Yugi smile a little.

In a couple of minutes, the car pulled to a stop right outside of the game shop. The door of the shop was opened, but the sign for the store was turned over to the 'Closed' side. In the doorway was a suitcase, just sitting there, waiting to be loaded in to the car.

Chokichi turned the car off and as they were getting out, Yugi heard him say, "At least someone knows how to follow rules."

When they entered the living area of the house, Yugi saw his mom rearranging a suit case on the couch. She hadn't heard them come in and she was just quietly minding her own business, very much lost in sight. Lining the walls were three other suitcases. Like the ones outside, they were waiting to be taken to the car.

"Mom!" He cried out and almost ran over to her when he felt his father grab his collar of his jacket, preventing him from going over to her.

Miyuki looked up, startled. When she saw her son, she sprang to her feet. "Yugi!" She then glared over to her so called husband. "Let him go, Chokichi."

Said man rolled his eyes. "Sorry, _honey, _but our son needs to go pack whatever he wants to take with him." He dragged the boy over to the stairs and tossed him up a few of them and ordered him to go pack.

Yugi caught himself before he could trip and looked over his shoulder to see his father still standing there, with his arms crossed. He wasn't going to go anywhere for a while. So, he looked back up the stairs and started up them.

Going into his room and closing the door behind him, he was attacked by a flying bundle of fur. Luckily for him, he reacted fast and managed to catch his dog before being knocked onto his butt.

"Iggi!" He said, surprised and hugged him close to him. Said dog looked up at him with round blue orbs and softly barked at him. He reached up and started to lick his face. Yugi smiled and moved his face away, not wanting to be slobbered to death. "I-I missed you too." He said and then walked over to his desk. He was going to go over to his bed, but for some reason, he felt the urge to go to his desk. He sat down and placed his over grown pup on the ground next to him and faced him.

"Oh, Iggi, what am I doing to do?" He covered his face with his hands. "Am I really going to have to go with him?" He heard a whine and felt Iggi brush up against his leg. At that touch, Yugi looked up and over to his desk where a few extra pieces of clean paper were left over from his homework. The thought hit him on why he wanted to go to his desk instead of his bed. He nodded to himself and grabbed a pencil from a drawer and grabbed a single sheet. He didn't even hesitate and began to write, 'Atem...' and then started to write more.

XxxxX

"What... just happened?" Joey asked, a minute after Yugi had left with his dad. He was just as confused as everyone else in the room -minus Atem- and didn't know what to think of it.

Tea was filled with concern and looked over to where Atem was still standing. She noticed his hands were curled into fists at his sides and that his knuckles were turning white. "Uh... Atem? Are you alright?" Tristan, Joey and Ryou looked at the once pharaoh and noticed his state.

Tristan reached over and grabbed his arm and yanked him down, noticing that some people were staring at him. "Dude, what's going on?"

Atem slightly snapped out of his trance and looked around the room, noticing everyone's eyes on his, even the teachers. He quickly looked away, trying to make it look like he was okay and that this was normal, even though on the insides were complete chaos. "After everything goes back to normal, I'll explain." He said in a hushed voice.

The others nodded and they had to wait for a few minutes and just talk to each other to help pass the time. When everyone went back to talking with their partner, no doubt talking about what had just happened, Ryou spoke up, "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah, what happened?" Joey asked his brows close together in confusion. "I thought Yugi didn't like his dad."

"He doesn't." Atem answered, getting his phone out of his pocket. He kept talking as he hid the phone from view of the teacher and went to his contact list. "Listen, Yugi's father is still trying to force Yugi and our mom to go with him and I just found out that his father has been abusing him."

Tea nodded, "That's why you two were late to this class."

He nodded. "Yugi's father has been hitting him so that Yugi wouldn't tell anyone and that he swore that if Yugi did tell, that he would hurt one of his friends." He looked to Tea and said, "that is why you received a rose last night from 'Yugi'. It was because Yugi's father was trying to show him that he would do it. And when Yugi was dueling Joey last period, he already had a full mind because of his father. When you had told him about that rose and when you described the man, Yugi's mind went into total chaos."

"That's why I won..." Joey said, his confusion slowly going away.

Once again, Atem nodded. "Yugi hasn't been in the best of moods. He's been torturing himself because he's trying to keep his friends safe, even if that means getting beat up." He found the number he was looking for and looked up. "What Yugi's father said today is true; they will be leaving either later today or early in the morning."

The gang suddenly knew what the-used-to-be ancient spirit was up too and they all gathered around him, making it look like they were just switching seats so that they could hear each other better when they were really trying to make a barricade so that Atem could use his phone. Once Atem was blocked from the teacher, he bent his head and pushed 'Send'. He waited a few rings until a familiar voice reached his ear and he said in an urgent voice, "Jii-chan, I need you to pick me up from school..."

XxxxX

Yugi re-read his note over one more time before folding it in half and stood up. Iggi looked at him and then followed his partner to the doorway. Yugi quietly opened his door and silently thanked Ra that it didn't make a noise. He poked his head out to see if his father was anywhere near him. When he didn't see him, he held his breath and listened. He heard a deep voice downstairs and knew that was his father. He also heard his mom and could tell that they were arguing. Giving another silent Thank you, he crept out of his room and, with Iggi on his heel, moved as quietly as an ant. They went over to Atem's bedroom.

The door was opened so Yugi walked in and went straight over to his brother's made bed. He set the note down on the pillow and tip-toed right back out, as quickly as he had come in. When he heard the arguing stop and then movement, Yugi's heart sped up and he made a quick dash to his room.

Yugi managed to sit down on his bed with Iggi lying on the bed besides him and made it seem like he was just looking around, when his father walked into the room, looking a little mad.

"Are you done yet?" He asked in a gruffly voice. He didn't even give his son time to respond when he walked into the room and grabbed his son's arm and then walked right back out, dragging Yugi.

Iggi started growling up a storm but jumped down from the bed and followed the two males out of the room and downstairs.

"Let me go!" Yugi yelled. He tried to get out of his father's tight hold but he was never given enough time since his father was moving at a fast pace.

They made it down the stairs and into the living room. Miyuki was standing in the middle of the room, one of her cheeks a bright shade of red and in the shape of a hand. All of the bags that were here when they got here, were nowhere in sight.

Chokichi released Yugi's arm and sort of shoved him into the room, near his mother. He ignored the dog and said, "Now, is there anything you want to pack that you haven't already, or can we leave now?" He asked as he crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the two.

Miyuki caught her son and straightened him and put an arm around his chest in a protective way. She stayed quiet.

Yugi glared, "We're not going anywhere with you." He said. Iggi was at his side and was standing. The fur on his back was raised up and he was baring his teeth at the threat in the room.

There was laughter from the man and he just shook his head. "Must we go through this again? You don't have a damn choice!" He said. "You are coming with me now. Everything is already packed up in the car and I have all of the plane arrangements ready. If we don't leave in the next ten minutes, we will be late and I will be pissed."

'_As if you aren't already...' _Yugi thought.

"Why do we have to go with you?" Miyuki demanded, slightly surprising Yugi. Didn't she already know the answer?

"I'll tell you when we get there." Was all he said and he took a step towards the three. "Now, let's go!" He said in a commanding way.

Neither Yugi nor his mom moved.

Chokichi let out an impatient sigh and walked over to them. "I said, _let's go!" _He said and made for a reach in grabbing whoever was closer. But, right when he came within distance, Iggi attacked him like how any dog would.

"Ah!" The father yelped out in anger. He tried to shake the beast off of his leg, but, like last time, the dog locked his jaws. "Get off of me you damn mutt!" He made for a grab.

"Iggi!" Yugi yelled, giving the dog time to release his victim and jump back before he was caught. Yugi knelt down to where his dog was and grabbed his collar, trying to keep him calm. He started to pet him.

Chokichi glared at the dog before grabbing Miyuki by the wrist and pulled her over to him. By the force he was using and by the woman's light weight, Miyuki couldn't reject the movement; she wasn't strong enough to.

"Let go of me!" She said and with her free wrist, started to pound on his shoulder.

Yugi's eyes widened a bit and he straightened up. "Mom!"

"Now," his father said in a calm-ish voice, "let's go." He made a movement to turn around when he felt something hit the side of his head. He paused and looked around to find his son glaring at him. That made him smile, "Aw, isn't that cute. Being a child and throwing stuff." He rolled his eyes and said, "Grow up and be a man; take what is given to you and like it." He walked forward and yanked on his wife's wrist.

"Nn!" Miyuki still tried to get away and looked at her son. A silent message passed between them. But, before either of them could do anything, a loud noise and a commanding new voice entered the room.

"Let her go."

Chokichi stopped and stared at his father who stood in the door way, his keys in his hands and standing right behind him, was Atem, who was looking around for his brother. But, he couldn't help but glare at the man who was holding his mother's wrist.

"Oh look, a family reunion." Chokichi said in a chilling voice.

Solomon looked at his son, to Miyuki, to Yugi, and then back to his son. After Atem had called him during school and picked him up, his adopted grandson filled him in on what had been going on. He didn't get mad at Yugi for keeping it a secret, a little sad, but he got mad at his own son. "Chokichi, let Miyuki go." He ordered.

Atem slipped by the elder and walked over to Yugi, being very cautious of the man in the middle of the room. Once he made it to his Light, he pulled him into a side hug. "Are you alright?" He whispered low enough so they two could only hear.

Yugi hugged his other back and barely nodded his head, "Y-yeah." They parted but stayed close to one another.

"Why should I, father?" Chokichi said, though he did loosen his grip just a little. "Don't you see that I'm trying to get somewhere with my wife and kid? If I don't leave now, then you'll make us miss our flight."

"Did it ever occur to you that your wife and son do not wish to leave with you?" Solomon asked.

"Their opinion doesn't matter."

Solomon gave a sort of surprised laughter, "Oh, it doesn't? Then what does matter?"

"You getting out of the way and letting us be." Was his short reply.

"Look," the eldest man in the room said, "just let Miyuki go. I do not want things to get nasty here."

Chokichi just rolled his eyes. "Look, father, nothing you say will change my mind. I will only leave with my wife and child." Then he did something that no one was expecting. He pulled put a pistol hiding in his jacket's pocket and aimed it at Miyuki's head. "Move aside or I will shoot."

Miyuki's eyes widened as did everyone else's in the room. Breaths were held and no one moved a muscle.

This was the exact reaction he was hoping for. He looked back at his biological son and said, "Hurry up, Yugi; we're leaving."

"Over my dead body." Atem growled and slightly stepped in front of his partner, as if shielding him from the man.

"That can be rearranged." Chokichi smiled a deadly one.

"L-look," Miyuki stuttered, "Just put the gun away, and I'll go with you. There's no need for any blood being spilled."

Yugi's eyes widened just a little more, "Mom! Don't!" He gripped his brother's arm and took a step forward.

Chokichi kept his smile and looked over to Yugi, "Come and she won't get hurt." But he slightly lowered the gun. But that was enough for what Solomon just did. He rammed into his son, knocking the gun out of his hands and releasing Miyuki from his clutches.

Both men stumbled and the gun skirted across the room, landing over near the kitchen. Miyuki backed away and now her adopted father stood in between her and her husband.

"No one is going anywhere," The man of the house said in a commanding voice that almost echoed around the room. "If you touch her or anyone else in this room, I swear I will call the cops. Now, get out." His soft violet colored eyes were now hard and dangerous looking.

Chokichi just laughed, like this was the funniest scene he had ever been in, "Oh, you old man, do you really think that will work against me?" He took a step towards his father who stood firmly in place, not flinching or moving his eyes away. "I came here on a search and I found what I am looking for. I am not leaving until I bring what I came here for, with me." He reached his father and then punched him in the face, harder than necessary.

Solomon was sent flying down to the ground. With his old age, he didn't get up.

"Jii-chan!" Both teenagers screamed. Miyuki was already by his side, making sure he was okay when Atem ran at the man and jumped onto his back and had his arm around his neck.

Chokichi didn't seem startled by this, as he should have been. He just gave shook his head and grabbed the teen by the jacket and using his strength, managed to pull him off and threw him across the room like he was a rag doll. He turned to Yugi and grinned.

The youngest person in the room stood where he was, frightened. He didn't know what to do; go to Atem, or grandpa, or trying attacking his father. Well, he knew he wouldn't do the last one, since he still hated fighting. And, when he tried to look for an opening to go to one of them, he realized that his father was blocking them. And he was coming straight towards him.

Before Chokichi could get one more step closer to Yugi, Iggi attacked him, though this time, he kept biting him and attacking him, trying to bring the threat down to his knees. While distracted, Yugi made his escape. Though, as he was passing his father and dog, Chokichi grabbed the dog, who managed to bite his hand, and then threw him.

"Arf!" Iggi barked and sailed right into Yugi who surprisingly caught him.

Chokichi clutched his bleeding hand and glared. "What do I have to do here to get some respect?" And for an answer, he was punched in the face by none other than Atem, who was back on his feet, though winded a bit.

"How 'bout leave?" The pharaoh said. He looked over to where Solomon was still down and his mom was trying to get him to wake up, though she was watching the scene. His brother was standing in the middle of the room, clutching his dog who looked a little daze but was still pumped up to protect the humans he loved.

"I'll pass," Chokichi said and then returned the punch with his non-injured hand.

Atem didn't even have time to clutch his stinging cheek as he was punched in the stomach. All of the air he collected quickly left him and he fell to his knees clutching it. But, the man wasn't done yet. He reached down and grabbed the teen by the front of the shirt and head-butted him, hurting Atem more than himself. Sure he gave himself a slight head-ache, but eh, it'll go away. Making sure the teen was tightly in his grip, he threw him across the room, much like how he did the dog and a few days before, Yugi. Though he mentally grunted; this boy was a lot heavier than Yugi and the dog. Maybe ten pounds heavier? Still, that was a lot.

"Atem!" Yugi yelped when he saw his brother/protected collide with the wall and landed in a heap. When he held his breath, he saw movement, he sighed in relief. He turned back to his father who was now breathing a little heavy and looked directly at him. Yugi gulped and let his dog go. '_I can't believe I am about to do this...' _He thought and did something he was forever not going to be proud of; he ran at his father. Right when he was close enough, he hurled his weight at the older man, managing to knock him down.

"What the-," Chokichi fell to his back and Yugi fell on top of him. The wind was knocked out of both males, and before his father could get some back, Yugi tried to get up and back away. Of course, that wasn't what happened. Chokichi was able to grab a hold of his son before he could get away and roughly got to his feet. He held his son by the neck.

"Yugi!" Atem yelled at the sight but couldn't get up. Colliding with the wall did something to him and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get to his feet. He could already feel a big, pounding head-ache and see little black dots in his vision, but knew he had to keep awake.

As Yugi dangled an inch or two above the ground, he tried to get free from his father's tight grip. He tried to kick him and claw at the hand, but nothing would work. His vision started to go in and out from the lack of air and his mind was going a hundred miles per hour.

Chokichi grinned in a non-pleasant way, "Now, I can leave." But of course, that wasn't what happened. He forgot about one very important character still on his paws and who was able to battle an elephant if need be. Once again, his leg was attacked by razor sharp teeth, almost making him release his son. He looked down to the beagle who was biting his leg and pulling at his pant leg. On the muzzle of the dog was bright crimson blood, making him look almost rabid. "You stupid mutt!" Using more strength than he had before, he kicked the dog so hard in the ribs that it sent Iggi flying across the room and he slammed into the wall.

Yugi watched in horror and tried very hard to break free. "Iggi!" He waited for his loyal companion to get back onto his paws. When he didn't, tears sprang to Yugi's eyes. He couldn't even see the fall and rise of the beagle's breathing. "Iggi!" He cried. "No!" He was about to kick his father again, when he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck and his vision went black.

Chokichi watched in victory as his son fell unconscious. He hurled him over his shoulder like he was a bag of flour and walked over to his wife who was glaring at him. His old man was still unconscious and when he looked over at Atem, he noticed that he was fighting to stay awake and trying to get to his feet, but failing miserably.

"C'mon," he said and grabbed Miyuki by the arm, hauling her up to her feet.

"Let me go!" Miyuki cried and tried to pull away from him.

Atem could only watch in horror as the man who he had just met a few days ago, was leaving with his mother and brother. "No! You can't leave!" He yelled his voice cracking. He managed to give one last look at his partner, lying limp, and yelled for him, "Yugi!" He then slipped out of reality.

XxxxX

Till next time. :)

Lisa: oooh, an awesome cliffy! They are sooo gonna hate you! XD

I know. ^^ Now you must wait in agony for the next chapter! :) hehehe.

Just wanted to say before I sign out, that sorry I didn't reply to your reviews. School has been stressing, especially since I am hating my Algebra ll teacher. He's treating us like college kids….. where we have to figure out how to do work I have no idea how to do….. I hate him…

Lisa: You know, if that's a problem with your teacher... *starts sharpening her knife*

Yes! Do it! I never want to see him again! Go! Go now! I don't want to see him tomorrow! Ride like the wind, my awesome yami! I'll even help you with the body... I mean... uh... nooothing.

Lisa: Alright aright, don't have to tell me twice! :)


	17. Surprising Visits

Okay, I need some help with something!

Lisa: Now what is it?

Okay, well, you know how there's a lot of characters in Yu-Gi-Oh!

Lisa: Yeah…?

Okay, well there's this one character that it's like, everyone uses even though he's not listed in the actual series.

Lisa: And…?

And, well, I was wondering who he is?

Lisa: …. Dude, how can someone know who you're talking about if you won't list the name?

Oh, uh… sorry, It's Heba. Who is he? It's killing me that I keep seeing his name pop up and have no earthly idea who he is….

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Chapter Fifteen:

He woke to the sound of someone calling his name and shaking him. "Nn…" He managed and opened his eyes. His head was pounding and he was slightly confused, but when his eyes opened all the way and he was starring straight at his grandfather's face, it hit him. "Yugi!" He bolted straight into a sitting position.

Atem quickly scanned the room. When he didn't see anything out of place, or no sight of his Aibou, he tried to stand up.

"Whoa there, Atem," Solomon said, laying a hand on his grandson's shoulder to keep him from hurting himself, though that didn't work. "Take it easy,"

But of course the teenager ignored him and stood up. He felt a little wobbly as his brain pounded against his skull. He must have hit the wall a lot harder than he thought. "How can I take it easy? Yugi and mom were just kidnapped!" He was mad and was panicking on the inside as he looked around for the clock. He got out of school around ten-ish and got home ten after.

When Solomon noticed what his grandson was looking for, he sighed and gently squeezed his shoulder. The teen looked away from the clock and looked at the elderly man, noticing the look of sadness upon it. By the way his grandpa stood, which was sloppy and how his tired eyes were almost glued to the ground, it hit him.

"It's too late to go stop them," Solomon said in a soft voice. "It's almost five; we've been out for too long; they're already on a plane."

Atem felt like his whole world was about to crash down and split in two. His hands were balled up into fists as he glared at the wall, feeling tears threatening to make itself known. The scenes that had played just hours before were playing and replaying in his head, making him feel more and more miserable. He failed his partner, even after he told him countless of times that he wasn't going anywhere. He failed to protect him from the threat not once, but a handful of times. He should have been paying attention to his partner's quietness and his mood and should have been able to realize what was happening. Instead, he was almost oblivious to his brother's problem.

Feeling himself start falling down, Atem reached out for the wall to have something to lean upon. "I… I can't believe it…" he whispered, his voice slightly cracking. His eyes, his proud sharp eyes, started to dull a bit and glaze over. "They're gone…"

Solomon took notice of the teen and got panicky. "Atem, do not start thinking like that," he said and crouched down to look him in the eye. "There is still something we can do." He tried to sound encouraging, in which he almost succeeded and continued on, "My own son has taken this too far; we can report this to the police." To be able to fall this far from standing so tall, yeah, a lot of people would get worried.

Atem looked up, "But, they'll be in a different country. Can they still do anything?" He was still a bit new to these type of things, but his voice sounded a bit stronger.

"I'm sure they can." He said. "I'm not going to let this get away from us. I should have done something years ago, but I always wait 'til the last minute." He shook his head. "Come on, we should get going now." He stood up.

As Atem was getting up, he thought to himself, '_I wonder what will happen… Yugi, please, please be alright.' _He knew he was acting weak, but for some reason, he didn't know how he was supposed to act. As they both started to walk to the door, a thought hit him. "Oh, I need to go get something from upstairs."

Before grandpa could ask what that was, his grandson vanished from sight, leaving him alone in the room.

On top of the steps, he walked down the hall. He took a moment to stop by his brother's door and looked inside since the door was wide opened. It looked the same like it always did with nothing out of place. He quickly walked away and to his room. To be honest, he didn't really know why he needed to go to his room; something in the back of his mind told him too. The first time he ever ignored it, something important had happened that he missed, so this time, he was going to listen to it.

In his room, Atem looked around. What could be so important that he needed to be in his room? He walked in and looked on top of his dresser. Maybe he forgot something and knew he was going to need it. But, there was nothing on the top since they were already in his pocket. As he looked around, aiming to look at his desk, something caught his eye. When he turned, he frowned. Something white was on his pillow.

Curious, but cautious, he walked over to his bed and picked the object up. It was a note. Now curiosity taking over, he opened the letter and came to face Yugi's handwriting. Sitting on his bed, he started to read softly to himself.

"Atem…" 

XxxxX

"You shouldn't have done that... Any of it," Miyuki stiffly said as she glared out of her window seat and at the nice fluffy looking clouds. The sun was setting and up here in the sky, thousands of feet above the ground, you could really see all of the different colors mix in with one another. The orange and reds and pinks all swirling into one. You could even see a faint purple coming up, resulting that it was about to be night. But not for long since this plane was going halfway around the world.

Chokichi was sitting with the aisle right next to him. He had the table top out with his computer resting on it. Many files for work were up as he worked on them. He barely slowed his typing down as he replied, "I did what I had to do. Now shut up about it." They've been on the plane for a few hours now and she was just now bringing this up. Typical women.

Miyuki said nothing as she took a minute to turn her gaze from her window to the teenager sitting next to her. She raised her hand and brushed the blond bangs out of her son's eyes as he still lay unconscious. Getting on the plane was a lot easier than she had expected. Usually when you are carrying someone in your arms and they are knocked out, people would get suspicious. But, minus the security guards and flight attendants' asking what was wrong with Yugi, everyone just gave them second glances before minding their own business. It must be because her 'husband' had a great way of communicating with people, saying that 'Our son had a long night staying up late packing his suitcases and the night before, he was up till early morning just recovering from the flu.' People actually bought the story.

'_Oh Yugi, I am so sorry you had to be a part of this...' _She thought and sadly smiled. Even though her son was seventeen, from how he was sleeping, he looked like he was ten. The face of an angle. '_I still don't even know what's going to happen...' _Her hand cupped his cheek and she slowly and gently ran her thumb over his skin. And then she noticed it... the heat that was rising from him.

Panic swelled in the pit of her stomach. "Oh no..." she whispered, forgetting who was right next to them.

Chokichi didn't even pause his typing or even looked away from the screen as he said, "What now?"

"Uh... n-nothing," she quickly said, knowing that he was clueless on Yugi and his past. She didn't need to worry him about all of that information, but she did need to tell him that they needed to go back. And that's exactly what she did. "We need to go back."

"Hehe, shit out of luck if you just forgot something."

"It's not that..." She almost growled, getting impatient. "Yugi will die if we go any further!"

He just shrugged and said, "I already switched all of his medical documents to Texas and all of that."

"That's not what I'm talking about!" And making sure she didn't say anything that she would regret, she took a few seconds to calm down and said through clenched teeth, ""there are certain things that I cannot talk about. But, Yugi has to stay in Japan. He... hasn't gotten all of those vaccines he needs to leave the country." She quickly made up.

Chokichi looked at her and stopped his typing, "Oh well," he said, "We'll get them when we settle down. Now leave me alone; I have work to do." He gave her a glare and looked down to where his son was still out. '_Worthless...' _He turned back to his laptop and started to type.

Miyuki wanted to yell but bit her tongue. She looked back down to her son, wondering what was going to happen. They still had another ten hours until they touched down in Texas. Luckily, they got a rare flight that was flying straight from Japan to Texas, only stopping to get gas. But that was it.

XxxxX

_Atem,_

_I know what you're probably thinking, that this is somehow all your fault and that you are blaming yourself because of whatever is about to happen. But, don't. Even if you were not... I just need you to know that this is all my fault. I should have told someone sooner and I shouldn't have been weak. You taught me to have courage, and at first, I had some. But, I guess I just started to get scared. I really started doubting myself, even when you told me, god knows how many times, that I shouldn't be, that I was strong and that you were here and so were our friends. I still don't even know what happened... I guess I majorly panicked. I am still trying to sort out my head, and it's taking time. I don't know why... I just know that I'm still not what you say I am. And before you can disagree with that, it's true. I need to stop being that weak, wimpy kid and, as what I've heard Joey say to other people, 'Grow a pair'... _

"No, you aren't weak, Yugi..." he softly disagreed, ignoring those last two lines written. Without even realizing it, he was reading faster and faster, feeling his heart squeeze in nervousment like he was about to get on stage before a concert. He continued to read,

_I need you to promise me something. I need you to not come after me. I need to figure this out on my own. That much I'm sure of. If you do come after me and everything turns right again, I wouldn't learn anything. I feel like this is my punishment because I didn't do what I was supposed to do. I resulted in being the same kid. I don't know if you remember, but when you came back to this world with your own body, mind, and soul, you and me, we went to the cafe next door in Egypt. I think Marik and Odion took us plus Joey and Tristan to that club, but we really didn't want to be there. Remember when we were talking, we received a note from the god, Ra? I remember reading that he was warning us that something dramatic was going to happen in the future. So... It's kind of like... Destiny that it all happened this way, right? I just know that I need to see this out to the end. I really do believe this will help me._

This hit him a little strong. His partner didn't really need him anymore...

"No," he disagreed with himself. Yugi wasn't like that. He was just trying to stay strong, and for something like that, he admired him more. But, this might be an uh-oh one. He re-read the part about Destiny and couldn't help but frown. Memories flooded his brain about his and Yugi's encounter with that man, one that wasn't good. ((A/n if you don't know what I'm talking about, refer back to Transformation, the first story of this sequel ness.))

He continued on...

_Now before you come to any conclusions, I still regret all of this. I don't like it, I wish it wasn't happening; I want to stay here; here, in Domino, Japan. I want to stay with you and Jii-chan and Iggi and mom and our friends, and I don't want to leave... believe me. It's going to tear me up into pieces leaving you guys. I just don't want to go with him. He isn't my father... even if he says he is and we look the same and we share the same blood. I don't see him as one. I never will. I don't know what's going to happen when I get to where ever my father wants to be, but when I do, I'll call you; you can be sure of that. I'll call you, text you, e-mail you, do whatever it takes so you know, and I know, that we're both okay_.

_I want to tell you this before hand; I have a plan. I'm not quite sure on what that plan is, but I do have one. I know I will... _

_I'll do whatever it takes to take care of mom. Just please, don't do anything stupid or reckless, Mou Hitori no Boku. I know you. Tell Jii-chan not to worry and hopefully, I'll be seeing you guys soon. Tell everyone else not to worry also. I know they will be, even more than when you tell them, but just tell them not to. There's no point. Just know one thing, I will be back to graduate with my class. :) _

_I love you, Atem. _

_-Yugi. _

"I hope you do have a plan, Yugi..." Atem said and closed his eyes. With his free hand, he massaged the bridge of his nose. After a minute of two he reopened them. He was about to stand up when he noticed there was still more writing. He looked down and read the last line.

_P.S. Please take care of Iggi for me! _

"Iggi..." Atem slowly stood up, thinking about where the dog was. His eyes widened as he remembered and just as he was about to run to the door, he heard grandpa yell for him, the elder's voice sounding panicking.

XxxxX ((Just so you know, I will be jumping around the time. For Atem, everything happens in order, but for Yugi, certain hours will pass so I can explain him. Just a heads up.)

When he came around, his head ached and he felt hot all over. It felt like he was sick with a fever, but he felt even hotter than normal. He slowly blinked his eyes opened and a small groan escaped from his lips.

"Yugi?" He heard a familiar soft voice call his name.

He tilted his head to the sound and with his eyes all the way opened and his vision not being so blurry, noticed it was his mom who said his name. Her face had worry lines and her eyes were a bit more rounded with worry.

"M-mom?" He softly asked.

Miyuki nodded and let out a sigh of relief, "thank the Gods you're alright." She said, and indeed she looked relived.

"What's going on?" Yugi asked and moved a little, noticing that he was sitting down. As he moved, something fell from his forehead and landed on his lap. He looked down and noticed it was a damp towel. He took a hold of it and examined it, curious.

"You... you were burning up so I asked a flight attendant for some cold water and a towel." She explained, noticing her son eye the cloth.

"Flight attendant?" Yugi looked up, even more confused. He then quickly looked away to look around and noticed that he wasn't familiar with his surroundings. No one was sitting next to him, but there was a laptop that was on a tabletop next to him. All around him were people either asleep, reading, or watching TV from a portable DVD player. A few ladies dressed in blue dresses, being a uniform, were walking around, making sure the people were doing alright and if they wanted something.

And that's when it hit Yugi. All of the memories before he passed out came rushing to him at one whack, giving him a major head ache to add on to his already ache. His father picking him up from school, writing the letter to his brother, explaining things, and then the fight.

"W-where are we?" He asked, nervously and looked back to him mother who was watching him closely.

Miyuki sighed and said, "On a plane. We've been on it for a good ten hours now... landing only twice to re-fuel." She dipped the towel into the water and waited for a response.

He didn't reply right away, just trying to absorb the information in. He knew this was going to happen, but what got him was how long he was out for. More than ten hours? You can't be knocked in the head and be out that long, unless it was really, really, really hard and that person drugged you. But, he couldn't see his father doing that. So... why...

Speaking, or thinking, of his father, he looked beside him to the empty seat and asked, "Where's..."

He didn't say the name but Miyuki must have understood because she said, "He just went to the bathroom."

He nodded and leaned back into the chair, for some reason exhausted. He still felt hot and his head was pounding. He had felt this feeling before but couldn't quite remember where from. He closed his eyes and felt a trickle of sweat go down his forehead. It wasn't long before he felt something cold and wet lay against his forehead. He didn't even open his eyes.

"What's wrong with me...?" He mumbled.

Miyuki's eyebrows shot up in surprise, "you mean, you don't know?" She asked. Her son shook his head. She bit her bottom lip and said, "Do you not remember your trip to Egypt several months ago?"

Yugi thought about it, but it was hard. He kept getting distracted by the pain that now shot through his chest. "I... I don't know..." He then thought again, harder. When he did, a picture of a white room filled his mind. The white room had little fires burning and they kept getting bigger. The white walls were stained a blackened color and the fire started to lick at them. That's when it hit him.

His eyes flew opened. The letter he and Atem had gotten the first day Atem was back filled his mind. "My soul room..." he whispered. He looked to his mom who sadly nodded. She looked down at her hands. "But -," he quickly shut his mouth when he felt a presence near him. He looked over his shoulder to find that his father had come back and was sitting down.

Chokichi noticed his son was awake and he said, "About time you wake up." He said in a non-nice way. "Started to worry the flight attendants' to think that something major was happening." He turned his gaze over to his wife who wasn't looking at him and then turned to his laptop. He started to type on it.

Yugi said nothing for a good while and the three of them were quiet. He glared down at his hands in his lap, knowing that this was all a waste. His father was taking him somewhere for something, but after another thirty-six hours, his plan would fail because he wouldn't even _have _a son to take anywhere. All he would have would be a body who burned from the insides.

_'I knew I didn't think everything through...' _He thought bitterly to himself.

XxxxX

Atem raced out of his room and down the stairs. He clenched his fist, forgetting that he was still holding onto the note from Yugi. "Jii-chan?" He called out and jumped off the remaining two steps. He ran to his left into the living room and right when he hit it, slowed down to a walk. His breathing was coming out in small pants as he scanned the room.

"Over here," Grandpa said from near the couch.

Atem walked over and found the elderly man crouched down. He came to a stop and crouched down next to him, wondering why he was crouched down when he saw him. Iggi was lying on his side, his chest barely rising and a soft whimper escaping his parted jaws.

"Iggi..."

"I found him like this," grandpa said in a soft voice. "If we don't get him to the vet, he won't make it."

Atem nodded and as gently as he could, scooped the pup up into his arms, and stood up. All he could think was, '_You better not die, Iggi. Yugi'll kill me if you do.' _

In the next ten minutes, he and grandpa were in the car and driving to the local vet. The beagle was lying in Atem's lap, fighting to keep breathing.

The ride there was rather quiet as the two men kept to themselves. Atem had shown grandpa the letter right before they left. After he got done reading it, he didn't say anything for the longest time. And when he said something, it was only that they needed to go to the vet.

"Are you alright?" Atem asked a few minutes later.

Grandpa didn't take his eyes off the road but nodded his head. "I think so... How 'bout you? I know you received a pretty hard hit."

"I will be fine." He said, half-ly lying, the other half telling the truth. How could he be fine when his Light was gone and in three days he would decease from this world? He shook his mind, wanting to not think about that.

After a minute of silence went by, Grandpa took a second to look over to the passenger side where Atem was gazing out the window. He looked back ahead and without even realizing it, he pulled into a parking space of the vet.

Atem sprang into action and unbuckled his seatbelt before the car was even turned off. He opened his door and called over his shoulder, "I'll be back," He didn't even wait for an answer as he rushed up the steps, carefully of the dog in his arms and entered through the opened doors of the shop.

The place smelled the same as always; dog, medicine and an odd smell of rubber toys. There wasn't that many people here, three at most and one of them were checking out with a cat carrier on the floor.

The receptionist looked up and greeted the newcomer, "Hi, if you will just - Oh, Atem, hey," she said, remembering him from the few other times he was here with Yugi for Iggi's check-ups and just hanging out with Lyla. "What brings you here?" She asked. "Is it Lyla?" he gave him a wink that would have made him blush but he quickly walked over to the desk.

"No, actually, I need help," he said and showed her the dog in his arms.

The lady's eyes slightly widened and she nodded, "alright, I'll call a doctor to come." as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she picked up the phone and dialed a number. About a second later, she said, "Dr. Verta, there's an emergency in the front." Without saying anything more, she hung up and looked to the teen. "She should be here in a minute."

Atem nodded. And not a minute later, the doors behind the counter opened and a lady wearing a white lab coat walked out. She had black hair pulled back into a bun with faint high lights of red in it. She looked no older than thirty and she looked exactly like Lyla, only older. So this was her mom.

"What's up?" Dr. Verta asked. She looked around and then spotted Atem standing with a bundle of fur in his arms. By the way his expressions were, she had a clue that the dog needed medical attention and quickly said to him, "Follow me." She walked around the desk and then over to the back of the room to where some doors were located.

Atem did as she said and followed her. They went through the door into another room that was like a little office.

"Lay him down on the table." She said and he did what he was told. "Now tell me, what happened?"

XxxxX

Fourteen hours being stuck on a plane and then another two being stuck in the airport trying to get past the security was a pain in the butt. And not to mention that Yugi was feeling more and more hot and felt like he was burning all over. All during the flight, he passed out a couple of times to one, pass the time, and a few others was because his body was trying to fight back the Light so it tried to knock the owner out to take care of it. No matter what Miyuki did, she couldn't cool her son down and during the flight; Chokichi had noticed the intense heat coming from his son. He didn't say anything about it because he didn't really care, but he kind of was curious.

As Miyuki and Chokichi were waiting for the luggage, they made Yugi sit down on one of the plastic chairs where he wouldn't be in the way of anything. During most of the two hours of being stuck in the airport was for Yugi because he wasn't an American citizen and he had to go through customs. He didn't really enjoy that since he felt like diving in to a pool full of icy water rather than standing and being patted down and checked for everything. But now, he sat in the chair, his head resting on the wall behind him and his eyes closed. His breathing was coming out in pants and un-noticed, he was gripping his right arm from the pain. His jaw was clenched and sweat was trickling down his face and neck.

'_G-great,' _he thought, '_I j-just had to... to lie once again. Please... Other me, d-don't take it... it the wrong way._' He knew he still had a little over twenty-four hours left to live, but, it felt like he had only a few hours left, that is, if he could take this any longer. There was no hope for him anymore. He slumped a little in his chair.

After a couple of minutes, he started to hear whispering and he slowly opened his feverish eyes. Some people that were walking by were gawking at him like he was some kind of human on display. They all looked worried. One lady, an elderly woman, walked over to him and gently asked, "Are you alright, boy?"

He tried to sit up and barely succeeded. "Y-yes, ma'am." He gave her a small smile and added, "First time e-ever flying and... still trying to get over the m-motion sick-ness." Wow... another lie...

The lady nodded in understanding, "Ah, all of my grandkids are like that. Well, I hope you feel better soon. At least it won't last that long."

"T-thank you, ma'am." Yugi said and watched her go. He slumped right back down and closed his eyes. He wanted to go home now. Home, back in Japan. _'Well... If I was to get on a plane right now... I-I bet I could make it home with a little time to spare..._' His mind thought up, mostly from the fever. Fourteen hours here, plus thirty minutes from all of the stops, plus another fourteen-hours and thirty minutes going back, not forget the two hours being stuck here, plus another hour or two in case, would all be added together to be thirty-three hours. Yes, he should have time to get back to Atem before his body burned all the way.

As he was thinking, a figure was walking up to him, with a scowl on his face. He wasn't very happy that this feeling was leading him to an air port. As he pushed past people, since it was in his nature too, he reached the place where his gut wanted him to be. When he caught sight of the teen on the chair, looking as if he was asleep, he got highly annoyed.

"Oh great, what's the Mutt doing here?"

Yugi frowned and slowly opened his eyes. He knew for some odd reason that question was pointed directly at him and he... also knew that voice. It was familiar. When his eyes fully opened and he struggled to sit up, he stared blankly at the person standing a few feet from him. He was standing with his arms crossed at his chest and his stance slouched a little.

"B-Bakura?"

XxxxX

Atem was sitting on the floor with his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms covering his eyes. He's been sitting here for over an hour with no information regarding his brother's dog. Right after the doctor asked him what had happened, she sent him to go sit outside while she took a look. She said by the looks of things, the dog could be in critical condition.

He felt like his mind was made of rubber; he wasn't really thinking straight and his brain hurt. He wasn't really thinking about anything except for his Light and the dog. The story he had told the doctor was pretty close to the original. He knew he couldn't speak of the truth, because then there would be questions, so he came up with a story that sounded reasonable and easy.

He had told her that there was a burglar at his house. Luckily, no one was home except for Iggi. The dog was able to scare the burglar away without anything getting ruined or stolen, but there was a price to pay. The burglar had wrestled with the dog and ended up throwing him multiple times against the wall. The reason why he figured out what had happened was because he and Yugi had come home at that point and called the police.

'_I just hope they don't go into too much details of asking questions...' _He thought.

As he sat quietly and made no movement or sound, he felt someone sit down next to him. He knew it wasn't grandpa, because about thirty minutes ago, he told him to go home and there was nothing he could do here. Grandpa, at first, objected, but after a little persuading from his grandson, he left. Now, the person next to him had to be someone he knew, but he didn't feel like finding out who it was.

A couple of quiet minutes later and no one said anything. The new person kept her distance and kept all of her questions to herself. She wanted him to be the first to say something, but after a while of not speaking, she knew that wasn't going to happen. So, she finally started to talk in a soft, gently-like voice.

"Atem, are you okay?" Lyla asked, gently laying a hand on his shoulder. She noticed him flinch just the slightest, but otherwise didn't move.

"Y-yeah," he said, though his voice was muffled a bit. He raised his head just a little and stared in front of him. With his chin resting on his arm, he asked, "What's going on with Iggi?"

Lyla bit her lip, wondering how she should give him the news. "Well," she started off, looking down at her hands. "He's... in a better place now where he can be fixed and the hurting can go away."

He didn't even turn to her as he let the information sink in. To be honest, he didn't know how to react, so he stayed neutral. "Oh..." Was what he said.

"I'm sorry..." She said. She saw her friend nod and then she said, "Is Yugi here, by any chance? He might want to know what's going on."

"No..." Atem said and Lyla heard the unmistakable bitterness in his voice.

"Is everything okay?" She asked. 'S_omething must be going on for him to act like this...' _She thought. "Did something happen to Yugi?"

Without even answering her, Atem stood up. Silently following, Lyla got to her feet also, still waiting for an answer. But, she never received on because Atem asked a different one, "Shall... I take Iggi home...? Or..."

"Leave him. That's what all of the other owners do." She answered him like how her mom would.

Atem nodded. "Alright... Thanks... for everything, I guess." He started to walk away, feeling numb on the insides. His legs felt like Jell-o and he was wondering how on earth he was going to make it home, feeling like this.

He knew he was being a little mean, ignoring Lyla when all she was trying to do was help. So, when he made it over to the door, he paused and looked back, noticing she had never moved and was watching him with sad eyes. No one else was here since the vet was about to close so it was only them two. The receptionist was in the back doing something.

In a voice a little louder than what he was using before, he apologized, "I'm sorry, Lyla. It's just... a lot is happening. Maybe..." he looked at his hand for a second and then right back at her, "maybe if you come over tomorrow, I'll explain things. But, right now, I can't."

Lyla nodded, confused but at the same time, understanding, "Alright. I'll be over tomorrow after dinner. Be safe going home, Atem." She watched him nod and turn around. He walked out the door and down the steps.

Leaning against the wall, she sighed. "Something must be wrong with Yugi... I've never seen him act like that, ever."

XxxxX

Till next time. (I don't really like how I set this chapter up… So some might not be the best explanations… Sorry)

Lisa: Bakura! You're back!

Bakura: ...

Lisa: ^^

Lisa, I don't think he wants to be bothered right now... he might be a little mad that I brought him back.

Lisa: Oh nonsense, he's thrilled. Can't you see that lovely smile he's expressing?

Bakura: ...

... Suuuure. Anyways, I bet none of y'all saw that one coming! XD

Lisa: Oh, and before my hikari forgets to say this, she once again wrote another one-shot. It's called Bonus Chapter based off of Transformation. You'll understand if you read it. :p But, until next time!

Reviews:

**ThiefOfHearts:** Hehe, that's the big question here! Chokichi is so evil And Yugi, so cute and innocent! That's the million dollar question! :)

Lisa: And that depends. What do I get in return? O.o

You're not just going to do it?

Lisa: Psssssh, do you not know how hard it is to kidnap a teacher without the district getting suspicious because there's a class of students going bonkers because there's no teacher? That and I am running out of hiding places...

Running ... out? Wait, how many people have you kidnapped/ killed?

Lisa: uuuuuh... gotta go!

Oh no you don't! Get back here!


	18. Interesting Conversations

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Chapter Sixteen:

"B-Bakura?" Yugi struggled to sit up, blinking his eyes. At one point, he rubbed them and then looked again, wondering if he was hallucinating. It would suck if he was, though it would make sense if he was too. The tomb robber was wearing something that people wouldn't even imagine seeing him wear. Not in a hundred years would they picture him wearing something other than what he normally wore; jeans and some kind of tee-shirt and conver shoes.

Said name glared at him and then glanced around like he was looking for someone, "Okay, so where are they?" He demanded.

Yugi frowned and rubbed his temples, trying to clear his mind enough to talk. "Where's who?"

"Oh, you know who I'm talking about, you damn Mutt. Where are my hikari and the baka pharaoh?"

"B-back in Japan…" he answered a little quietly.

Bakura snorted and kept scanning the airport, trying to find someone who looked like him. "Right, like you think I'll believe that shit. How'd you even know I was here?"

"I… I didn't." He answered. For some reason his head was throbbing even worse now. "I just got here… Kind of."

Bakura turned his narrowed eyes on to him, a suspicion growing in his eyes. "What do you mean by kind of?" Before he gave him time to answer, the tomb robber looked Yugi over only once before he snorted, "Why the hell did you leave your yami?"

Yugi looked at him with a frown. "I… didn't have a choice." He said and tried to stand up. He quickly looked over to the baggage claim to see his parents arguing over something.

Bakura followed his gaze and nodded, though it looked as though he was just nodding to himself. "Huh, I'm guessing those are your parents?" Yugi nodded but quickly wish he didn't. The sensation made matters worse. Bakura grunted and looked back to Yugi. He bit his cheek and did something out of the blue; he put his hand against Yugi's forehead.

At first, the gesture startled the teen that he was about to pull back. But then, he immediately felt the cooling sensation that made his head stop pounding. It felt like a cool liquid was swelling in his brain and then quickly started to move downwards, spreading everywhere. Within seconds, he wasn't hurting anymore and it felt like the fire was extinguished. Just like when Atem first came back, mere minutes before Yugi gave up.

Yugi blinked his eyes and the hand went away. He looked to his friend's Dark and stared at him as he looked away, looking uncomfortable. "W-what did you just do?" He asked, feeling normal.

"…"

"Bakura?"

Said name looked back and gave off the impression that he was glaring. "You owe me big time, Mutt." He said. "I only did that because if I didn't, I would never hear the end of it from Ryou. What I did was I calmed your Light down."

Yugi frowned. "You… you can do that? But, I thought only my ya-,"

"Of course I can do that," he snapped. "Since I'm the Dark of a Light, I don't only have to be Ryou's Dark. I can help calm other people's Light down if need be. But, I wouldn't do it for just anyone." He added. "Since the baka pharaoh isn't here, I can step in for him and help keep your Light in balance."

That left Yugi speechless.

Bakura noticed because he continued in a gruffly voice, "And now I understand why the pharaoh has such a huge ego; you would have to have one big enough to be able to control your Light. Have you ever realized that you have enough Light to power a whole city in the Shadow Realm?" (1)

"Hey, Atem doesn't have _that _big of an ego!" Yugi quickly disagreed. "You should speak for yourself!" He looked up and down at the teen who basically just saved his life. "And why on earth, are you wearing that?"

The all mighty tomb robber, who almost took over Ancient Egypt, who didn't look like he liked anything, was all dressed up with cat stuff. He was wearing white kitty-cat slippers whose head was rather large with white pajama bottoms that had different kinds of cat faces all over it. He had on a white shirt that had big letters that read 'Welcome to the 2011 Cat Convention' and on either side of the words were cat statues. Tied to his wrist and that floated above his head was a balloon that said the same thing as it did on his shirt. Now on his face were three black lines on both cheeks, representing cat whiskers. His nose was even painted pink. On top of his head were white cat ears that you would usually find at Halloween for costumes. And last but not least, on his back, he was wearing a white plushy shaped as a kitty-cat bag.

Bakura almost bristled and grabbed the teen by the front of the shirt, despite that they were in public, "And what is _wrong _with what I am wearing?" He demanded. His dark brown (?) colored eyes glared deep into Yugi's amethyst colored ones.

Yugi didn't even flinch from the movement or tone of voice. He could deal with him any day, especially since Bakura called him Mutt still. "Well, you're wearing all cat stuff. What more is there for me to say?" He slightly returned the glare. "And anyways, why exactly are you even here? Don't you know that Ryou was worried sick about you?"

The silver haired robber let the teen go, not because people were starring at them or that there was a security guard watching them carefully, but because he didn't want to be that close to him anymore. He crossed his arms against his kitty-cat convention shirt, trying to look like his normal imitating self, but it wasn't working, it just made him look less. "Well, he shouldn't have been. I left a note," he said and completely ignored the other question.

Yugi raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, you left it in the fridge, some place that no one would even think about looking. It took him a few days to find it."

"That's his own fault. If he was worried about me, which he shouldn't have, he would have looked harder."

"Uh huh…" Then an idea came to him, "Wait, you put the note in the egg carton, right?"

"Duh…"

"So…. Where'd you put the eggs?" Yugi asked, remembering that Ryou said that there were half a carton of eggs left. "And you do know you could have left the note on the fridge or counter."

Bakura opened his mouth to say something but was cut off. Someone had called Yugi's name and that person didn't sound too happy. They both looked over to where Yugi's mom and dad were still standing near the baggage claim. All of their bags, which were a few, were all retrieved and waiting. Miyuki was watching her son with a nervous look while Chokichi was glaring at both him and Bakura.

"Oh no…" Yugi looked from Bakura to his parents. "I uh… have to go."

The thief king started to look Chokichi up and down like he was weighing his options. "Why?" He asked, though he sounded like he didn't really want to know.

Yugi looked away and quickly muttered, "I just do…" As he started to retreat towards his parents, Bakura suddenly grabbed his wrist. Yugi looked over his shoulder, a question on his lips but he never got to ask it as he felt something like paper slip into his hand and then was released. Before he could even look at what was in his hand or ask Bakura why he did that, the King turned around and walked away, looking like he was just taking a stroll though the airport.

"Yugi!"

Said name turned back around and quickly walked over to his parents once again. Without even thinking about it, he slipped the piece of paper into his pocket of his pants.

"Who the hell was that?" Chokichi demanded when his son was within ear shot. He had a suspicion that his good for nothing son had a friend here and was telling him about the kidnapping and such.

Yugi didn't look up as he said in an even voice, "No one that you need to worry about."

Miyuki stared at her son and then back up to where she only caught a glimpse of the boy her son was just talking to. She had an idea on who that was, since she only kind of knew two boys who had that white of hair. But, the question would be, how did he know Yugi was here? When her son looked up, she gave him the slightest tilt of her head, showing that she was curious but he just gave a very small shake of his head, meaning _not now and I'll tell you later. _

"Oh really," the father grunted. "That better have not been some friend of yours or you better not have told anyone about any of this or you're dead."

Yugi rolled his eyes, "I can hardly call that a friend of mine." '_More like a nemesis if any.' _He thought. "And anyways," he added, "why would I tell anyone. If I do, you'll probably just hurt my mom." Subconsciously, he moved a little towards her, feeling that sense of shielding.

Chokichi just gave his son a short smirk that lasted no more than a second. He picked up his hand bag and suitcase and said, "Pick your belongings up; we're about to leave."

As he started walking away, Miyuki grabbed her son by the shoulders and looked him dead in the eye. "Yugi, are you alright?" She asked in a hushed, concerned voice. She then started to scan him over and her hand was on his forehead in a second's time. "What happened? Why aren't you burning up? And who was that you were talking too?"

"Mom, I'm fine," he said and tried to stop his mother's questions, "I'm fine," he repeated when it didn't seem like she understood. "That was Bakura, you know, Ryou's Dark? He… kind of healed me? I don't know, but he told me that Atem doesn't have to be the only person I can share a Dark with. It's really confusing, but I'll tell you later. Right now, if we don't follow him," He gestured with his head towards his father as he knelt down and picked up two suitcases in each hand, "he might do something…"

Miyuki bit her lip, wanting to know what was going on with her baby but understood what he was getting at. She picked up the other two suitcases and her purse and started to walk after the man she once loved.

As the two quickly followed Chokichi through the airport, he led them outside. There, it was a lot more crowded than inside the building. Yugi didn't even have time to gawk at anything in this new country because someone had walked up to the three of them. The lady was medium height, standing about five foot three inches. She had salt and pepper hair that was pulled back into a high pony tail. Her features looked familiar yet, he had no idea who she was or why she looked a tab bit familiar. Sharp blue eyes, the look of having a lot of power.

Well, she walked over to them and looked at Chokichi. She cleared her throat, catching his attention and said, "Your flight was well, hm?" She didn't even bother with looking at the two foreigners as she kept her attention to him.

Chokichi nodded and set his bags down. "Yes it was, mother." He pulled her into a small embrace that lasted about two seconds and then pulled back.

Yugi frowned. Mother? He looked at her, I mean really looked at her and then knew why she seemed so familiar; some of his father's looks, he inherited from her! And if that meant this was his father's mom, then she was his…

"Miyuki…" The lady said when she finally looked away from her son. She simply looked at her daughter-in-law with a normal look, but behind her eyes, concealed very well was disgust. Disgust by how she had forced her son out of his own home.

"Barbra." Miyuki said a little stiffly.

The woman apparently named Barbra gave her a look and then turned her attention to Yugi. She looked him up and down, just like he had when she had walked over to them. She was examining everything about him, especially the facial features. He watched her closely but couldn't tell if she was approving of him or wasn't. She had a good poker-face.

Finally, after a minute and when Yugi started to fidget, she said, "Well, you got a lot of looks from your grandfather. You must be Yugi." She held out her hand and was talking all formal, nothing like how Yugi would have imagined a grandmother would talk. He always thought they were nice and had a warm smile and soft, loving voice. "I'm Barbra Loeco; your grandmother."

Being a bit shy, Yugi extended his hand and shook his grandmother's hand for the first time. "N-nice to meet you," he politely responded. One thing that he had pictured about a grandmother was her hand was soft and warm. For a minute, he forgot all about being kidnapped and the situation he was in. He just couldn't believe that he meet two people he had never even thought of meeting ever in his life, in just under a week. First his father, who he wished he didn't meet, and his grandmother who he never really heard anything about. Grandpa never really said much about her.

"As much fun as this family reunion is," Chokichi interrupted the moment and impatiently looked at his mother, "we should really be getting home. Did you bring the car?"

Barbra raised an eyebrow at her son and put her hands on her hips, "Excuse me?" She said. "Is that really how you speak to your mother?"

"... No. But really, we need to get back; I have all of this work that I have to do and I have to get things ready for tomorrow." He said.

She just rolled her eyes and said, "Huh. Well, yes, I did bring the car. We can pack everything in the back and we'll have enough seats to go around, though we might have to put the back seat down." She looked at her daughter-in-law and then to her grandson before turning around and motioning for them to come with her.

Chokichi picked his bags up and watched his son and wife do the same. Soon, they were following Barbra across the busy street to where the parking garage was located. Still, Yugi didn't have time to look around as he was ushered by his father to get a move on. In less than ten minutes, they were on the second floor of the garage and were loading their bags in the back of a red SUV van.

Yugi was the last to place his bags in the back as Barbra grabbed the door and slammed it closed. She looked at her grandson, looking like she was wanting to say something, but held her tongue. It was only their first meeting and she never showed her real side on first meetings. It was going to have to wait for another time. She just raised an eyebrow at him as walked around him to go to the driver's seat.

Yugi looked at his mom who merely glared at the woman before looking over to her son and giving him a small smile. "We never came into terms from the few times we saw each other." She explained. "She never did approve of me and just always tried to make my life miserable." She put a hand on her son's back and gently guided him to the car door.

"And I'm guessing she won't like me then..." he muttered, thinking on how you could not like someone as nice as his own mother. He just mentally shrugged and opened the car door. He stood aside and let his mom climb in first; being the gentleman he was brought up by. When she was in, he climbed in after her. Chokichi was already in the front seat and looked back at them. He didn't give them any kind of look, but just looking at them, it said enough.

After everyone was seat belted in, Barbra started the car and pulled out of the garage. As she drove, she started to have a conversation about what had been going on over the week he was absent. Yugi and Miyuki tuned them out as they softly talked to each other, making sure to keep their voices light.

"So, what's going to happen?" Yugi asked her. He was confused by how normal they were all taking this. It was like Chokichi never had gotten in a fight and had hit him and Miyuki and everyone else. It was like everything that had happened was a dream and that in real life; they both just calmly went with him, no problems.

Miyuki stared out the window and said, "I don't really know all that much. I still need to find out the reason on why Chokichi decided to bring us here and what he wants. All I can say is to act normal for the time being and whenever it seems like a good time, head back to Japan without letting him know." All he could do was nod his head and just when he was about to look out the window, she asked him, "So, what exactly happened when Bakura showed up?" She was dying to know.

Yugi bit his cheek and took a deep breath. He quietly explained all that he understood to her about why he wasn't burning anymore and what he and Bakura were talking about. Though, what they were talking about didn't really have much importance so he left it out.

"So you're alright now?" She asked, "And since Bakura is here, you won't burn to a crisp?" The last question would have had many people looking confused but her son knew what she was talking about.

"No. For now, I'm fine. I just wonder on how much longer he will stay here... I really need to talk to him." As soon as he said that, a thought occurred to him. He quickly reached into his pocket and brought out that piece of paper the thief king had given to him before he left. He quickly opened it up with his mom looking over his shoulder.

On the piece of paper was a ten did get number. And written underneath it said, 'Whenever you get a chance, call me.'

XxxxX

It was a little after eight when Atem walked in through the door. The game shop had been closed pretty much the whole day so he didn't have to bother greeting people as he walked by. Though, he did have to make sure he locked the door behind himself. He slipped his boots off when he made it into the house and then made his way towards the kitchen. He wanted to go to his room, but something made him walk past the stairs. He didn't know how to feel and right now; he wasn't feeling or expressing anything. He just had a grim line on his face as his eyes were slightly glazed over. His back was still as straight as always and his walk was still the same.

As he was walking through the living room, he heard voices. They were all familiar and by the different sounds, he could identify who they were. He didn't pick his pace up or nothing, just calmly continued his way. When he came into sight, without stepping a foot into the other room, he stopped and leaned against the door way with his right thumb hanging from his pocket. Joey, Tea, Tristan and Ryou were all in the room along with grandpa. Tea was sitting down, nervously sipping her water as Joey paced the medium side room. Tristan was leaning against the counter as Ryou stood behind Tea's chair, gripping the wood. Grandpa was sitting in the chair opposite the table, his hands crossed and laying on the wood. They all looked worried.

"What's going on?" He finally asked, disturbing the quietness that was lingering over them.

Everyone looked up. They had to ignore the different tone in their friend's voice. It was almost identical to the way he talked almost a year, now going on two years ago when he had lost Yugi's soul to the Orichalcos. He just sounded like he wasn't in his body, that he was talking like he was standing next to himself. It was weird and kind of scary. But, at least right now he wasn't slouching or looked all that lost.

"I just told them what has happened," Grandpa said in a light tone. "How did the vet go?" When Atem didn't answer, he took the hint and looked down at the wood. "Yugi won't like to hear that... he might never be the same." He said it so soft that it was like he was just talking to himself.

"I don't understand..." Joey suddenly said and stopped pacing. He looked towards Atem. "Why didn't Yugi just tell us what was going on? This probably wouldn't have happened if he just told us." He looked ready to punch something but at the same time, he looked ready to crash.

"Did you show him the letter?" Atem asked, throwing the question over towards his grandfather. He really didn't feel like talking right now. And the letter did explain a lot. Covered more ground than he would if he had to explain.

Tea looked up, "Letter?" She turned her gaze to the elderly man in the room to find him pulling a folded piece of paper from his pocket. He handed it to her and she took it with slightly shaky hands. She opened it up just as the ones who haven't read it yet started to read over her shoulder.

As they read, Atem stared straight at the ground, wanting to look anywhere but his friend's faces. He had a very full day today and he just really needed to go up to bed. But, he couldn't, not yet. He listened to the quietness as they read and heard the faint snort from his blond friend at one part. For the rest of it, they were quiet.

After about three minutes, Tristan asked, "So... he has a plan, though he doesn't know what it is?" He looked over to grandpa who just shrugged. "Huh... this might be interesting."

"He's really growing up..." Ryou softly said, really just talking aloud.

Tea nodded and laid the note on the table. In a small voice, she said, "We graduate in three and a half months... Do you really think it'll take three months to do whatever he has to do?" She looked up and tried to meet Atem's eyes but when he didn't look up, she glanced over to the only other person who she knew would answer.

"I don't really know," Joey said. "I don't know much about any of this so I can't really say anything. Let's just hope that whatever plan Yugi comes up with, it won't even take a month to do. I just want him back... It's not the same without him."

XxxxX

Later that night, as Atem laid in on his bad with his lights turned off and already being dressed for bed, he stared up at his ceiling. He had his arms crossed behind his head as he let his thoughts roam. '_Yugi... Please be alright. I just wished you weren't so far away so that I could keep an eye out for you... More so... How will I know if you even make it 'til tomorrow? I failed at trying to protect you from your Light... and I am sorry for that. With you being so far, there's no one to help tame that light... How the God's will shake their heads in disapproval at me.' _He turned over to his side and stared at his wall. He sighed and tried to turn off his mind so he could concentrate on sleeping. However, little did he know, he would spend practically the whole night in tossing and turning.

XxxxX

Till next time!

Geez, I'm so tired! It's been so hard finding time to write! I finally started Driver's Ed and that has been making me exhausted, along with Choir. We had competition Saturday…. :/ Which I didn't make it, but I'm sort of happy! More time… kind of to write! Sorry I'm complaining a lot…

1. Oh, and that line, I don't know if I want to do it... I have so many other stories, but just keep that line in mind. I might want to write a story to it!

Reviews:

**ThiefOfHearts: **Really, you're a Texan also? SWEET! XD

Lisa: Voo doo…. Yu-Gi-Oh! ? o.o

Oh no…..

Lisa: Well, I'll be back… *starts walking away*

And where do you think you're going?

Lisa: I'm going to Luna's and her hikari's house! Yu-Gi-Oh! Voo doo….. Sounds awesome! I really wanna know what happens when you cut off Yugi's hair!

Noo! Don't do ittttt! *Is too late* Dang…. Anyways…. :/ I really liked the RIP for Iggi! So cute!


	19. New Home

Lisa: Hikari!

In my room!

Lisa: *Walks into the room, holding something behind her back,* Whatcha dooooing?

Homework… why?

Lisa: I don't know…

Well, go away! *busy scribbling down answers*

Lisa: Well, fine then. I'll just take me and my present that was for you away….

… Present? *looks up*

Lisa: Yeah… but I guess you don't want it anyway… Specially since it'll help get rid of your writers block and stress…

….. Uh... you can stay… :D But, what did you get me?

Lisa: No, you probably don't want it.

No! I do! I love you very much and you can stay for as loooong you'd like!

Lisa: Good. *brings the present to view* Ta-da! He's all yours!

o.o Y-you got me a cat?

Kitty: Meow!

Lisa: Yup! A kitten to be exact!

Where did you get a cat from?

Lisa: Kitten, and I can't say. Guess what his name is?

….

Kitty: Meow

Lisa: Since he's all black, I named him Zorc!

I'll pretend I'm okay with the name, but where'd you get the cat from?

Lisa: He's a good boy and I thought you might like him! *completely ignores her*

… First the Driver's License and now a kitten… whose name is Zorc. I need to follow her one day…. But, anyways… this chapter is really just a filler; nothing fun and exciting yet.

Zorc: Meeeow!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Chapter Seventeen:

It was weird, being in a whole new country. Yeah, he's been to California but that was different. Then, he was on a mission to save the lost souls. But now, it was totally different. He was here almost as a prisoner. But, that didn't mean he didn't have to like it. Yugi sat in his seat of the car as they cruised North down I-35. He was gawking -in his head as he tried to keep a straight face- at all of the restaurants, shops and buildings that flew by. They were all so foreign that they were so interesting. He had found out that the airport they had landed at was in Austin and that the place they were driving to was a good hour away. So, they were going to be in the car for a while more since it's only been ten minutes.

They were passing by a strange store that had caught Yugi's attention. He looked interested, especially with the three big letters standing out. As they were passing it, he arched his neck so he could continue to stare at it a little more.

Barbra noticed from her mirror and said, "Let me guess, this is your first time out of the country?"

Yugi snapped his head back to the front and looked at the mirror, meeting her eyes. He noticed that his father barely looked over his shoulder and rolled his eyes at him before returning his attention back to the front. Miyuki blinked and looked at her son and smiled. "Uh, n-not really." He stammered. "I've been to Carolina before and Egypt."

She raised an eyebrow at the Egypt part and returned her eyes to the road. She continued, seeming impressed, "Egypt, huh? And what'd you do in a place like that?" That even got his father's attention.

"Uh..." '_Well, let's see, I helped Atem recover his memories and then dueled him so that I could send him to the Afterlife and then the second time, I almost died... Oh yeah, like I can say that.' _He thought but instead said, "Well, Jii-chan took us as an experience. He said that he always had a good time whenever he went on digs and since I was already so interested in the culture, he thought it would be nice to visit."

At the mention of her ex husband, Barbra gave a firm nod of her head, "Ah, well... that was nice of him." She said just to say something. "Since you're so interested in the culture there, are you going to become an archaeologist?" She ignored the fact that was what Solomon practically did.

Yugi thought for a minute. He was always wanting to become one, not because of grandpa or because Atem was a pharaoh from five thousand years ago, but because if he became one, he could study the language and everything about it. "I've thought about it, yes." He said. "After high school, I was thinking about going to Egypt to study there. It'll be a long way from home, but it was something I really looked forward to making a career out of." That thought made him think of his friends and what everyone else was going to do. Tea was going to study dancing in New York while Tristan went to join the Japan Army. Joey was going to try and get scholar ships for being an engineer in college and Atem still didn't know what to do. Though, he was personally invited to work for Kaiba Corp by none other than Kaiba, saying that having the King of Games brother working for them might help his company. And Ryou was wanting to become a teacher. He didn't say what grade he wanted to teach, but knew that was what he wanted. He also said he wanted to learn the culture of Egypt and the language, just like Yugi.

Thinking of his friends made his heart ache. He was really hoping he would make it back home to graduate with them because after graduation, they might not be seeing each other for a while.

Barbra nodded. "Sounds like a good plan." It almost sounded like she was praising him. "Just make sure you keep your grades up, otherwise it'll be hard to do anything."

He just nodded, not know what else to say. He looked over to his mom who looked at him and gave an encouraging smile. She grabbed her son's hand and squeezed it before returning her attention back out to the window. He decided to do the same but instead of watching the buildings, he looked up to the sky.

After about an hour passed, they finally made it into the little town know as Breaksville, Texas. Yugi had been resting his head against the window, feeling tired. But when they exited off the highway, he raised his head a little, looking around.

They stopped at a stoplight that was red so he examined his surroundings. In a small shopping center on his right was one of those buildings he saw earlier that had the letter's H-E-B on the front of it. Next to it was what looked like a Mexican restaurant that read _Pétalo Rojo_ and next to that was a small book store called _Page Master_. Across from that were a Chinese restaurant named _Lucky Dragon_ and a Taco Bell and Mc Donald's and a gas station called _Shell_. He kept seeing some of the fast foods in every town. When the stoplight turned green, they took a right and were passing the small shopping center. As they drove by, he saw a rather large water tower and next to that was a library. He wasn't able to make the name of the library out since they were going a little too fast.

They continued to drive on through the town, by passing a lot of stores and people walking on the sidewalks and cars. When they were about to drive into the neighborhood, they passed by the school which had students swarming all around it.

"It sucks that this town only has a high school," Barbra observed as she too glanced at the school.

Her son looked up and shrugged, "The elementary and middle school's are only three miles away; in the next town. It's not that bad."

The car entered the neighborhood and the car slowed down some. Yugi watched in curiosity at all of the houses. They looked similar as to the ones in Japan. These houses, whether they be one story or two, all had the same size front yard, though some yards had trees. The bricks were all different colors like red, blue, pink, or white.

They turned a corner down the second street and didn't get very far as the car pulled up to the third house on the right. Yugi looked at it in wonder. It was a one story house and its bricks were red. Two full grown trees were in the front yard, shading some of the yard under the four o'clock sun and the grass was yellowed from not getting enough water and from the dry weather they been having. Parked in the drive way was a silver BMW. It looked almost brand new, that or it was always kept in good condition.

The car was turned off and all four passengers got out of the car. Yugi stood on the sidewalk, still starring at the house in curiosity. His mother was right next to him but instead of gazing at the house like he was, she looked up and down the street. It was nice and peaceful and everyone else's yard looked almost identical to her husband's; yellowed grass and a few trees in the front.

"Move it," Chokichi growled to them both. "You can stare at it some other time, but right now, get your bags so we can go inside." He walked around them and went to the back of the SUV to get his own belongings.

Yugi frowned but did as he said and followed him to the back of the car. '_So far the house looks decent…' _He thought, wondering if he would get his own room. He hoped so, then it would be easier to plan things.

After gathering their belongings, everyone followed Chokichi up the path to the front door. He reached for his keys in his pocket and unlocked the door before walking in.

Yugi was a bit cautious about going inside that Miyuki had to gently squeeze his shoulder. Being reassured that his mother was behind him, he continued on in. The inside of his father's house was something new to him. Even though he was only in the hallway, he could tell that his father liked to be cleaned and neat. The few pictures on the wall -full of people he didn't know- were all straight and weren't crooked, not even in the slightest. They walked in further and the hallway lead out to an open room known as the living room. There, there was a long black leather couch pushed up against the wall and then a two-seater on the other wall. They were both facing towards a thirty-two inch flat screen TV that was perched on a TV stand that had shelves with a few movies in it. At the other side of the room was an end table with some picture frames on it and a table lamp. An indoor tree was in the corner; give the room some color other than the white walls and black rug.

The kitchen was connected to the living room. In it, there was a small table that sat four, the appliances all kitchens had –a fridge, stove, microwave, counters- and in the middle was an island. No dishes were left out and the counters were spotless. A painting hung in the room. It was a picture of a field with blue flowers everywhere. Later, he recognized them as the state flower, the Bluebonnet. That was it for the first two main rooms.

Chokichi walked in and placed his laptop bag on the couch and his suitcase right next to the couch. He immediately walked over to the kitchen where a phone sat on the counter. Yugi watched as he pushed a little flashing red button and a guys voice came on.

"_You have fifteen new messages. Message one," _It said and then a female's voice came on, "Hey, Mr. Mutou, this is Kayla. I know you're out of town, but when you get this message I need you to call me ASAP." She left her number and then it clicked off.

Chokichi grabbed a paper and started to write something down as the next message clicked on.

Finding it to be boring, Yugi looked around. He saw another hallway and guessed that lead to the bedrooms. His mother was right next to him, feeling awkward since she didn't know what to do. Barbra had disappeared to the outside to her car to lock everything up.

Being awkward just standing there, the two waited, not really knowing what to do. It wasn't until Barbra came back in and gazed at the two before rolling her eyes and said, "Follow me; I'll show you to the rooms you'll be sleeping in." She walked to the hall that was dark and flipped a light switch on.

Yugi and Miyuki quickly followed, not saying anything.

The first room they passed, Barbra said, "This is the office. You are not to go in there unless Chokichi says you can." She didn't give them long enough pause to look in it before continuing down the hall. They came to a corner where one door was on the right and one in front. "This door," she beckoned to the one on the right, "leads to the garage and the other one will be your room, Yugi." She reached over and opened the guest room. "Miyuki, you will be sharing a bedroom with my son." She threw a look over her shoulder that contained that look of disapproval.

Miyuki said nothing and nodded. Yugi peered into the room that was his. A bed was pushed up against the farthest wall, next to the window. A bedside table was right next to the bed, containing an alarm clock and a lamp. A desk was right next to the door with a lamp and a dresser was also in the room. There was a closet, but the door to it was closed. Besides a few paintings hanging in the room, it was bare. The walls were white, the curtains were an egg color that covered the window, and the carpet was a tan-ish color.

He looked back to his mother who gave him a small nod. He looked back and carefully walked into the room. In doing so, his grandma led his mother away to the room she was going to be staying in.

Looking around, Yugi walked over to the bed and placed the two suitcases in his hands down. He sat down next to them and held his head in his hands like he was nursing a head-ache. "What to do..." He whispered to himself.

"How 'bout you unpack your things." A voice said that caused Yugi to look up to find his father standing in the doorway. He stood up but his father waved his hand. "Just unpack your belongings like a good little boy and stay in your room until I call you." He turned around without another word and left his son glaring after him.

"I'm not little..." He grumbled and did as he was told and grabbed for his bags. He was kind of curious on what was in them since he didn't pack them and had no idea what was in them. So, he opened up the first suitcase and found a few folded pairs of jeans and many shirts, socks, and boxers were in there. He opened up the other suitcase to find more clothes, though he also found a little extra.

There were two picture frames that were inside the suitcase, along with his phone charger and some extra cash. There was a camera and its charger cord and his favorite blanket, a soft dark purple fleece blanket with the image of his favorite duel monster, Dark Magician, on the front.

He gave a smile, knowing that his mother was the one who packed the extra stuff, trying to make him think of his real home. Carefully, he picked one of the picture frames up and noticed it was the one off of his desk, the one of him and his three other friends; Joey, Tea, and Tristan. The other picture frame was of him and Atem, the one that was also off of his desk.

"Thank you, mom." He whispered and looked around the room to find a spot to put it in. He decided in placing them on the table next to his bed so he would be in quick access of them. Then, being bored since there was nothing else to do, he decided to put his clothes in the dresser and closet. He didn't know how long he was going to be here but kind of gave a guess that it might be for a while.

After ten minutes, Yugi stood back and looked into his closet. Only a few items hung up with all of his other clothes, what little he had, was in the drawers. "Huh… either I will have to wash my clothes every week or I will need to buy more…"

"Yugi…" A feminine voice called, making him turn around. Barbra was leaning into the room, watching him with interest.

"Oh, uh… hi." He stammered, feeling a bit awkward. "How long have you been standing there?"

Barbra walked into the room and shrugged, "Not very. Are you getting situated well?" She asked, looking around and noticing his empty suitcases that were still on his bed.

"Yes. All of my clothes are unpacked…" He watched her, not really knowing what to say.

She nodded. "That's good." She walked over to his night stand and noticed the pictures. She causally picked one of them up and said, "Dinner won't be ready for another hour so you can explore the house if you want too." She examined the picture. "Are these your friends?" She asked and tilted the picture a bit so her grandson could look at it too.

Yugi walked over to her and nodded. "Yes. That's Joey, Tea, and Tristan." He said and pointed to each one. "They're my closest best friends and I don't know what I would do without them. Tea, she's actually my girlfriend."

Barbra raised an eyebrow. "Oh, well, she's very beautiful. It's sad that you won't be able to be around her much."

Yugi nodded and looked away. His grandma set the picture frame back down and looked at the other one. Her eyes narrowed a bit and she picked it up. "Who is he? He looks just like you."

He looked back up and said, "That's Atem... uh… My twin brother?" When he introduced Atem to other people, it was a lot easier because they didn't know that Yugi was really only a single baby. He never pictured he would have to tell relatives the news. They knew he was the only child.

Surprisingly, she didn't say anything and nodded her head. She took another minute to examine the picture, noticing that they indeed looked alike. She put the picture back down without another thought and turned to her only grandson.

"We have a lot to talk about," she said and gave a small smile that almost looked like it belonged on rich lady's face. "How about this weekend I come by and pick you up. I can take you to a restaurant and we can talk."

Yugi nodded. He knew he needed to act normal and not sulk about what was going on, because, then where would he be if he did that? So, he nodded and really meant what he said, "Sure, I'd like that." Now was his chance on getting to know his grandma. Grandpa didn't really speak much about her, so he didn't know anything about her.

Barbra smiled. "Well, I'll see you on Saturday."

He frowned and tilted his head a bit. It sounded like she was leaving. "Are you not staying?"

"Oh no. I have work tomorrow and I still have things I need to do." She started to walk towards the door with Yugi following. "I have to leave now because I live in Austin. You know, it's about an hour away?"

"Oh…" Was all he said. He followed her out of his new room and out into the living room.

Chokichi was already there, sitting on the couch. His head was leaned back as he relaxed against the chair but when they walked in, he looked up and stood up. He looked over at his son and asked, "What are you doing out? I thought I told you to stay in your room until I called you."

"Oh, stop it." Barbra said. "He just followed me out; don't be so hard on him."

Yugi said nothing but stood there, looking down at the ground.

Chokichi shrugged and quickly changed the subject, "So are you leaving now?"

She nodded. "Yes, I need to get home. I'm sure you will be fine without me here." She looked over her shoulder to her grandson and added, "Oh, and on Saturday, I am coming over to pick Yugi up." She looked back and saw a look of confusion on her son's face. Yugi looked up at the sound of his name. "I will be taking him out to lunch so we can talk." She rolled her eyes. "He is my grandson and I want to know more about him."

"Right…" Chokichi looked at his son for a moment before returning his attention back to his mother. "How 'bout I walk you out… Yugi, go… find your mother and I don't know… bother her."

Yugi almost pouted but reminded himself he didn't want to be a part of this and nodded his head. He looked to his grandma and gave her a small smile. Being polite, he added, "See you this weekend."

Barbra nodded and she watched him walk back the way they had just came. "Why exactly did you bring them both here?" She asked. She didn't know the whole truth about her son's reasons and she really did.

In a gruffly voice, Chokichi stated, "Personal stuff, mother. I just need my son's help with certain things and he wouldn't have come if I didn't bring his mother along."

They started to walk to the door and continued to talk.

"What's so personal that you can't tell your own mother?" She asked a bit curtly.

"Just work stuff," Was all he said. In his mind, he added, '_I can't tell you because it has nothing to do with you. If I told you, you would be mad and have that disapproval look. And as for the reason in bringing them here,' _he thought, referring to Miyuki and Yugi, '_you'll be mad and might send them back… I need them… Otherwise I'll have nothing.' _

Barbra barely gave him a nod. '_It must be something to do with bills again. I just don't get why he won't tell me… I can help him. And I really do need to figure out why he brought my grandson here… Whatever the reason is, it must not be good. But mine is what good can a teenager still in high school do?' _

They made it to her car and she unlocked the driver's side. As she was getting situated in her seat and turned the car on, she looked at her son. "You'll call me tomorrow?"

"Yes mother," he rolled his eyes but in a good manner. "And the day after that, and the day after that."

"Good. I just need to know how my son is doing."

Chokichi smiled, "Be safe in going home and have fun at work tomorrow."

Barbra almost groaned, "You too. Don't work too hard and remember, you can't work overtime all the time; you now have a family you have to take care of."

He stepped away from the car without a comment and watched his mother drive away. He then looked back at his house with a frown. '_A family… I don't really think I like the sound of that…' _

XxxxX

Yugi found his mom unpacking her belongings in the master bedroom. She was working quietly like a mouse on a hunt for some cheese. Swift and silent. She was busy folding a few of her clothes and putting them in the dresser that was hers when she heard someone enter the room.

"Oh, Yugi," she said when she noticed him. She stopped what she was doing and greeted him by pulling him into a hug.

"Hey, mom." He hugged her back. "What are you doing?" He asked even though it was obvious.

"Just unpacking my stuff. What about you, did you get everything unpacked?"

Yugi nodded and kissed her cheek. "Thanks for packing the pictures and the blanket." He hugged her a little tighter.

Miyuki smiled and hugged him back. "You're welcome, sweetie. I just thought that you might want some things to remind you of home." When they pulled a part, she asked, "Did Barbra already leave?"

"Yeah, she just left. Uh… dad walked her out…" The word still felt foreign on his tongue and it sounded wrong when he said it aloud.

They went over to the bed so Miyuki could continue to unpack her things and fold them up. Yugi sat on the bed and watched her, not really knowing what to do. "Hey mom,"

"Yes?" She didn't look up from her folding.

He started to play with the loose thread off of his school uniform that he was wearing, "I have a really random question. Why don't you like grandma?" Even that word felt weird to say. Must be because he never really used the words before.

Miyuki looked up and her eyes softened just the slightest. "It's not that I don't like her," she said, "It's just she doesn't really like me. Remember how I told you that after your father and I got married we went to the US for our honeymoon? Well, we went to Texas and that was where your grandmother was living. We visited her once and stayed with her the first couple of hours before we went our separate ways." She cleared her throat a little and continued on, "Well, during our visit, I could tell that she didn't like me because of the looks she kept giving me. And whenever Chokichi left the room, she even told me she didn't approve of me marrying him."

"Why not?" Yugi asked.

She shrugged, "I don't really know why; she never told me. I always thought it was because she's the mother and usually the mother and daughter-in-law never got well together. I just don't know what her problem is."

"Maybe she was jealous," Yugi said. He offered a smile when his mother looked up. a bit confused. "Maybe she saw how much dad... loved you and was jealous because he had his attention on someone else and not on her."

Miyuki paused what she was doing and placed her hands on her hips. In a sarcastic tone, she said, "And since when are you so smart with all of this? How did you come up with this statement?"

"Uh..." He looked away, a bit embarrassed, "Well, I watch a lot of movies... That just so happened to be chick flick's..." He looked back to his mother and saw her smirk. "Hey, it wasn't my fault! You had left the TV on and I just so happened to walk into the room being bored! _Monster-In-Law _isn't really that bad! If you stay long enough and watch it, you instantly get hooked!"

She started to laugh and teased him, "My little boy is growing up; he's watching chick flicks on his own!"

Yugi crossed his arms against his chest and pouted, "I'm not little..."

"Oh sure you aren't, honey." She winked at him and went back to folding her clothes. "You are just fun-sized."

Before he could argue that he was five foot six, Chokichi walked into the room, looking a bit tired. Instantly, the two shut up and watched him, waiting for him to say something.

"Dinner will be ready soon so wash up." He turned around and walked out of the room.

Yugi glanced at his mom who looked at him. They both shrugged at the same time.

XxxxX

The three were seated at the dinner table, quietly eating their meal. They were eating a Stouffer's Frozen Lasagna since it was something cheap and easy. All that could be heard was the soft clattering of the forks hitting the plates and the soft Country music playing in the background.

Yugi was barely eating, his stomach hurting a bit and feeling a bit queasy. To make it look like he was eating, he played with his food a bit and every now and then took a sip of his water. His mom looked a bit nervous and she too, sort of played with her food, making it look like she was eating. Chokichi was reading the newspaper, trying to figure out what had happened during the few days he was gone.

About halfway into their meal, Chokichi looked up from his reading and softly cleared his throat, catching his dinner guests' attention. "I just need to make certain things clear," he said, his voice sounding high and mighty, clearly showing that he was the one in charge. "Tomorrow, you two are not allowed to leave the house. You are not to call anyone, e-mail anyone, or even walk out of the house while I am at work. If you do any of that, I will know. And do not question that," he looked directly at his son, knowing how teenagers and little kids liked to ask a lot of questions.

Yugi and Miyuki stayed quiet and let him continue.

"I work from eight in the morning to five in the evening and I have an hour lunch break. During that break, I will be coming here to check up on you. Though, it won't always be that way. Starting Thursday, you will be attending school, Yugi." Said name eyes widened. "I have already enrolled you and all you have to do is go to school and get your schedule form the office."

"School?" Yugi said, putting his fork down. "I'm not going to school! I just got here and I don't plan on staying here that long! Enrolling me in school would just be a waste of yours and my time." He said, angered by that statement.

"You will do as I tell you to do," Chokichi calmly said, not at all affected by his son's angry outburst, "You will be going without a complaint." Then, just to make sure he was listening, he added, "If you do not go to school now, you will lose that knowledge and if do go back to your real home and school, you will be behind and may not be able to graduate with your friends."

Yugi stayed silent, knowing that his father did have a point. Even if he wasn't going to stay here, he would be missing out on something. And he had planned at least staying two weeks to get everything planned out before trying to get back home. During the car ride here, he was forming a plan that would help him since he didn't really have anything else to do except for gawking at all of the new buildings around.

He continued on, "Starting on Monday, Miyuki," he said, turning her attention to his wife, "I had found you a side job for you so you don't have to be stuck at home all day. You will be working form eleven to three, Monday through Friday."

That didn't go to well with her. She placed her fork down and said in a cold voice, "You can't just find me a job, Chokichi. What makes you think that I will be working there?"

He answered her with ease like he had been expecting the statement, "You don't want anything happening to your son now, do you?" He took a sip of his water as Miyuki looked to Yugi and understood what he meant. Yugi just glared at his father and tried to show his mom that he would be okay.

Miyuki clenched her teeth and bitterly asked, "What kind of job is it?"

"I found a day-care one town over that needed someone to work part time. You will have to take the bus to get there, but it's not that long a drive, maybe a couple miles if most." He said and set his cup back down. He watched his family and was half amused by their reactions of the news he had told them. They were both angry and were quick to argue that they weren't going to do it but then were quick to shut up when he threatened one. This might be a little easier to deal with than he thought.

He continued on, "The bus route is on the fridge when the time comes. I think that will be all for now. If I remember anything else, you'll be notified." He stood up and grabbed his empty plate and cup and walked away from the table. He set them in the sink and came back for the news paper. "Just leave the dishes in the sink and I'll do them later. But, I will be expecting you," he said to his son, "to start doing them. Miyuki, you and I will be switching off days to cook. You have free access to the food and spices, as do you, Yugi. You may go anywhere in the house, but stay out of my office. I do not like people in there." With the paper in his hand, he walked over to the living room where his bag was and picked it up. "I'll be in my office if you need me." And he left the two alone at the table.

Yugi watched his father go with a look of distaste. "It's like he's acting nice and ordering things all at once." He said. He turned back around to his plate and looked at it, not hungry in the least. He pushed it away from him and slumped down a bit. "He hasn't even told us why he brought us here..."

Miyuki pushed her plate away and nodded her head. She slipped her hand into her son's and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Don't worry, Yugi, he'll have to tell us eventually; he won't be able to keep it from us forever. He brought here for a reason and soon, he'll either tell us why or show us." She gave him one more squeeze before letting go and grabbed her plate. She stood up and walked over to the garbage can to scrape the remains of her meal off before placing it into the sink.

When she came back, she kissed her son on the head and whispered, "How 'bout you go to your room and get organized with everything. It'll give you something to do."

Yugi nodded her head. "Alright. Well, I guess I'll see you in the morning?" He turned his head a little and saw her nod her head. He then watched her leave the kitchen and head towards the room that she was sharing. He turned back to his plate before following her lead and scraped the remaining of his lasagna in the garbage before placing the plate into the sink.

As he was walking back to the room that was now his, he was stuffing his hands into his pockets with his head tilted down when his skin brushed against something. Being curious, he held on to that something and pulled his hand out of his pocket and looked at it.

It was a piece of paper. Before he could even attempt to open the small wad up, it hit him and he stopped walking. It was the note that Bakura had given him. The one that had his number and a small note that said for him to call him when he got a chance.

Yugi's eyes widen and he had to keep himself from running to his room. Pulling his cell phone out of his pocket -that somehow remained in his pocket-, he closed the door behind him and walked over to his bed. He opened the wad of crumpled paper up and flipped his phone up. He then started to type in the number and once it was all in, he hit Send.

He waited no longer than three rings when a new voice came on, sounding a bit annoyed and impatient.

_"About time you called..."_

XxxxX

Till next time!

I don't know about you, but when it comes time to start imagining things, I can suck at it.

Lisa: What my odd hikari is talking about is that she sometimes *cough* always *cough* has problem trying to paint a picture in her head when the author is describing a place or town or city or whatever.

Yup! So, I drew you guys a picture of Breaksville, Texas! XD It completes with the town and the neighborhood! On my profile, I have a link that sends you to my Devian Art account. Just go to my gallery and look up My Town and neighborhood (they're separate pictures). It shouldn't be too hard to find since I don't really have that many pictures up…. :o

Lisa: You don't have to if you don't want to, but if you need an image, we have one! It's also to help her out since she's having trouble.

Zorc: Meeeeow!

Reviewers:

**ThiefOfHearts:** They are graduating this year. I realized that they would really be like out of high school. Because, Yugi was with Yami for like three years. When Yami left, Yugi was supposed to be in his Senior year, but I made it his junior. Now, in this story, they are seniors. Make sense? I understand how it's confusing, It confused me a lot at first too. :p

Lisa: Yes! *clasp hands* We must!

Uh oh…. Well, thanks for reading!


	20. Checking In

*Pet's Zorc* This chapter is a bit boring. It's kiiiind of like a filler chapter but at the same time, it's important. Please tell me how you like it or you'll feel the wrath of my mighty kitten!

Zorc: Meow! *innocently licks it's paw*

Lisa: Yeah… I hope you like kitty slobber and kisses….. But, enjoy!

(Let's try this again, shall we? My computer hates me... and is smushing all of the words together. Lovely...)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

**Warning: **Beware, there might be a lot of cussing.

Chapter Eighteen:

He waited no longer than three rings when a new voice came on, sounding a bit annoyed and impatient.

_"About time you called..."_

XxxxX

Yugi frowned and said, "Well, sorry; I had other things I had to do."

"_Yeah, __well, __next __time, __do __whatever __shit __you __were __doing __faster.__" _Bakura growled. "_I__'__ve __been __waiting __for __you __to __call. __And __since __you __finally __decided __to; __spill. __What __the __hell __are __you __doing __here?__"_

"And why should I tell you?" He asked, feeling slightly annoyed.

"_I __healed __your __ass __at __the __airport. __If __it __wasn__'__t __for __me, __you __would __still __be __dying __from __your __obnoxious __light.__"_

He had a point there. Yugi sighed and explained himself, "My dad forced me and my mom to come here by knocking me unconscious and threatening my mom. We don't know why he brought us here since he hasn't told us."

"… _Where__'__s __the __baka __pharaoh? __Shouldn__'__t __he __be __with __you?__"_

"No… my dad doesn't believe anything I've told him about Atem. Before I left Japan, we all got into a fight that involved hitting and being knocked out. I think Atem was knocked out sometime after I was." He stared at the carpet as he spoke, feeling nervous. Was Atem and Grandpa okay?

He heard the old tomb robber grumble something about being a wuss and other insults, but it was too low to make out. Then he started to think out loud, forgetting that he was on the phone, _"What __good __can __the __pharaoh __do __when __he __passes __out? __Can't __even __take __care __of __his __own __other __half __and __he __saves __it __for __someone __else __to __help... __But, __should __I? __What __will __I __even __get __out __of __it __besides __a __pain __in __my __ass __and __a __head-ach? __I __already __have __one __from __all __of __his __light... __I __shouldn't __have __helped __him..."_

"Um... You do know I'm still on the phone and that I can still hear you?" Yugi said, getting more annoyed. He was going to ignore what he had just heard. There was no point in trying to argue with him.

There was no answer but a few muffled voices in the background. They all sounded deep and man-like. Some of them were yelling but no matter how loud they yelled, Yugi couldn't understand what they were saying.

"_Hey, __can __you __tone __it __down __a __bit? __I__'__m __on __the __phone!__" _Bakura angrily yelled his mouth just a little away from the phone. More muffled yells were sounded, probably in response, but they never got quiet. "_Good __for __nothings__…" _He muttered and then finally spoke to Yugi, "_So __let __me __get __this __straight, __Mutt, __your __dad __kidnapped __you __and __your __mom __and __brought __you __all __the __way __to __Texas __and __you __never __tried __to __do __anything __to __save __your __sorry __ass?__"_

Yugi bit his lip, wondering if he should tell Bakura the truth. He didn't really understand why the albino wanted to know; he hated him and Atem with a passion and tried very hard to stay away, or tried very hard to make their lives horrible if he was in a good mood. But, Bakura did save his life not once, but twice, all in the same month. That had to count for something, right?

"Alright, fine, I'll tell you." He finally said and started to describe the events that had occurred over the last week. He started with Ryou announcing that his yami went missing to meeting his father to the first get-together he had with him.

All the while, Bakura stayed quiet as Yugi told his story. He didn't speak at all or even commented like he normally would.

"And now, I'm sitting in my new room, talking with you." He finished and waited for a response. He looked down at his bed comforter and started to mess with one of the loose threads. As the seconds ticked by, he still hadn't received an answer. "Um… Bakura?" He asked, wondering if the thief king from ancient times had fallen asleep. That would explain why he had been so quiet. "Bakura? Are you even th-?"

"_Where __are __you __right __now?__"_ He suddenly asked, cutting whatever Yugi was about to say off.

Yugi frowned. "What do you mean?"

"_Where __is __your __father__'__s __house?__"_ Bakura asked, sounding even more annoyed.

"I don't know, somewhere in Breaksville. Why?"

There was movement on his side of the phone and the murmuring on his side of the phone lessened like he walked into a different room. "_Hm__… __is __there __any __hotels __over __there?__" _He asked.

Yugi thought. When he was in the car coming here, he didn't see anything that looked like a hotel. He saw a lot of stores and a library but no hotel. "Uh… I don't think so. There are houses though." There were plenty of those around here.

Bakura scoffed, "_I __wasn__'__t __asking __for __a __house, __Mutt. __Is __there __any __apartments?__"_

"I don't know…" Yugi frowned.

"_You__'__re __no __help!__" _He said in a rude tone. "_Don__'__t __you __know __anything?__"_

"Hey, I've only been here for a few hours… I haven't got to look around the town yet, so be quiet." Yugi said in a tight voice. "And why do you want to know?" He lay back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling.

"… _I __guess __you __haven__'__t __felt __it __then?__" _He asked, calming down a bit. When Yugi didn't answer, he took that as a confused no. "_We__'__re __too __far __apart __from __each __other, __dumb__ass. __Apparently, __we __can__'__t __be __more __than __an __hour __away __before __your __Light, __or __in __my __case, __Dark __starts __going __crazy. __I __have __to __be __closer __to __you__…" _Now he started to sound like he wasn't too happy about the idea.

Yugi frowned. He tried to relax his posture to see if he was getting a head-ache or something, but didn't feel anything. What was Bakura talking about? He asked him what he meant and Bakura gave an annoyed sigh.

"_You __and __the __baka __pharaoh, __you __can__'__t __be __more __than __what, __a __few __days __apart __from __each __other __before __you __burn __up?__"_

"Yes…"

"_Well, __since __I__'__m __substituting __for __the __pharaoh, __it __appears __that __we, __as __in __you __and __I, __can__'__t __be __more __than __an _hour _apart. __My __Dark __ain__'__t __as __big __as __your __yami__'__s, __so __we __can__'__t __be __apart __for __too __long. __I __should __know, __because __I __have __one __hell __of __a __head-ache __right __now__…" _He explained and then summed it up for simpler terms like he was talking to a five-year old, _"__If __you __want __to __live __long __enough __to __see __your __stupid __friends __again, __I__'__m __going __to __have __to __be __closer __to __you__…"_

Yugi, now understanding what the cat lover was talking about, tried to think of a place he could stay that was close enough. "Uh… I would say you could stay here, at my father's house, but he might get a bit suspicious on why you're here, so that's really out of the question… I think there's a hotel in the town over."

For the next couple of minutes, they discussed on where Bakura could stay. Since Yugi knew nothing of this state and didn't have a map or computer to see if there were any hotels nearby, he left that up for his silver haired friend who did find a hotel. It was just the town over from Breaksville and was just ten minutes away. He would leave tomorrow and they agreed to meet each other somewhere so they could talk face to face. Even though Yugi will have to ignore what his father told him earlier.

"_So, __have __you __tried __to __contact __your __brother?__" _Bakura asked, though he sounded a bit bored.

Yugi's eyes widened a tad and he sat straight up. "No... I haven't. I never even thought to try and call him." He looked around the room for a clock so he could see what time it was. He found one, his alarm clock on his night stand (of all places) and noticed it was almost nine-thirty.

There was a snort on the other end. "_Wow, __that__'__s __just __sad, __especially __coming __from __you, __I __can __see __someone __else __forgetting, __but __you? __You__'__re __in __a __new __home, __a __new _country, _you __almost __died __because __you __weren__'__t __with __him_ _and __you __forgot __all __about __him. __Sad, __just __sad. __Well, __so __you __know, __there__'__s __a __fourteen __hour __difference __from __here __to __Japan. __So __it __would __be __like __what, __eleven-thirty __am __for __them?__"__"_

He calculated and nodded, "Yes... I can't call him right now because he's in class. He never answers his phone at all during school. Only if you call twice, will he answer. Right now, I think he's in P.E." And in an hour, he'll be going to lunch, he thought.

"_Make __sure __you __call __him... __He __gets __so __worried, __it's __fucking __annoying. __Makes __me __want __to __gag. __And __don't __forget; __don't __tell __anyone __on __the __reason __why __I'm __here __or __you'll __be __having __a __few __broken __ribs." _He made a noise that was supposed to represent his words, but Yugi ignored him.

"You're just jealous because you don't have anyone that's worried over you." He simply said. He had to ignore the threat like usual, but agreed not to say anything about him dressed as a cat going to a cat convention. He always had this kind of argument with Bakura when he was ever with him because he knew it got on his nerve. And it did again, though this time, it was different.

"_Hey, __I __have __a__lot __of __people t__hat worry __about __me!" _He argued back. But, he didn't continue like he normally does. Instead, he just left it as it was and changed the subject, _"I'll __call __you __tomorrow __or __meet __you __or_ _whatever. __But __I __have __to __go."_ Without waiting for a reply from Yugi, he hung up his phone.

Yugi looked at his phone to see the call had ended and rolled his eyes. He flipped it shut and laid it on the bed next to him. After lying back down, he thought over what Bakura had said to him. Well, not really what he had said, but how he had acted. He cussed like crazy, but that was just his character, He acted... nicer than usual. Ever since Ra, the Sun God, had brought him back, he had changed just a little. He no longer acted like the Bakura he (Yugi) hated but more as one that annoyed the hell out of people by just being himself. He still got on everyone's nerves because of his personality and still hated Atem for many reasons, going all the way back to Egypt, though not for all the same reasons. Bakura no longer thought of getting revenge -Unless you deserve it or messed with him- on people or taking over the world -though you can't be too sure on that one-. Ryou had said he noticed a big changed, though he was happy about it. Bakura no longer caused damage to Ryou or major pain to others. Unless, again, you deserved it. In a way, he changed for the better though he still acted like himself. But, how he had acted on the phone was different. He almost sounded like he was wanting to help...

He crossed his arms under his head and frowned. He couldn't see Bakura wanting to help him out. He never could. The one time he did, when he helped him get away from Danny, that was just because he was walking by. Or, was it? Bakura continued to use the excuse that Ryou would be mad if he didn't do anything, which is true, but, there must be more to it. Then Yugi thought of it.

"Of course. Why didn't I think of it before?" He muttered to himself. He already owed the thief for saving his life from Danny and he was going to have to repay him. Now, must be the same thing. _'By __saving __me, __I'll __have __to __owe __him __something __bigger, __something __that __I__might __not __be __able __to __help __with...'_He turned onto his side and stared at the wall, trying to think of what Bakura had in store for him.

XxxxX

Over the hour, Yugi thought about what he was going to say to Atem when he called him. He knew his brother was going to ask a million questions starting with 'Are you alright?' to 'How are you still alive?' to 'What's going on?' so he tried to think of one simple sentence that could answer all of them without his brother needing to ask. Or two sentences. So far he only thought of saying, 'I'm alive thanks to Bakura who found me at the airport. I'm alright, so is mom and so far nothing major has happened except that I finally meet my grandmother for the first time.' He debated on saying that, but quickly decided against it. He decided to just say whatever came up first.

During the hour that Yugi was stuck in his room, no one entered it or even checked up on him. Which was good, because he didn't want anyone disturbing his thought process.

Now was the time where Atem would be having lunch. Yugi picked up his phone and flipped it open. After finding his brother's name under Contacts, he pushed the little Send buttoned and put the receiver to his ear and listened to the phone ring. He held his breath, eager to talk to his brother.

XxxxX

School was hard to get through the very next morning. All through first and second period, Atem had been quiet and barely spoke. Whenever a teacher called on him, either wondering where his brother was or to give answers on a quiz, he talked, but didn't say anything extra. The other four didn't know exactly how to react so most of the time, they kept quiet and to themselves. As the morning classes past by without a second thought, lunch was already here and the gang made their way to their favorite lunch spot.

As they sat down, Joey looked around the group, noticing the glum faces. He shook his head and cleared his throat and said, "Look guys, I know what happened is really bad and sad and.. well, hell, it's like our world is coming to an end," everyone looked at him, except for Atem who was looking off to the distance, "but, we need to believe in Yugi. He said that he had a plan."

"Though he doesn't even know what it is..." Tristan mumbled as he took a sip of his soda.

Joey shot him a look before saying, "But, we know him, and we know he'll come up with a plan. He's good at making plans and ninety-nine point nine percent of the time, they always work."

Ryou played around with his ramen in his thermal cup, "Yes, but we don't know what will happen to him during the time he's gone."

Tea bit her lip and looked around her friends. She was missing her boyfriend like crazy and it hurt her when she found out that he was keeping secrets from her... and everyone else. But, she had to trust him and his judgment, even if she didn't want to.

"We just got to believe in him..." She softly said and looked down at her sandwich. Earlier she was starving and wanted to eat and when they had sat down, she took a small bite. But now, she wasn't feeling as hungry. The sandwich, even though it was her favorite, was looking less and less appetizing.

"Tea's right," Ryou said. He looked at everyone, "let's just-," He was cut off by a small buzzing sound. He, along with everyone else frowned and looked to the ones who had a phone, knowing that someone's electronic was going off. When they all came clear that it wasn't them, they looked at Atem who was still out of it.

"Uh... Atem?" Tristan said, trying to catch the ex-pharaoh's attention. When that didn't work, he leaned forward and snapped his fingers in front of his face. "Yo, Atem, your phones vibrating."

Atem blinked and shook his head, snapping out of his daydream. "Wha?" He looked to his friends to find them all staring at him. Then he felt his phone and shrugged. "It's probably just a wrong number calling or someone trying to sell something. Besides, I don't answer the phone during school." He said it with a calm voice and like he wasn't any different than any of the other days. He looked at the ground and started to pluck the grass out, ignoring his friend's worried looks and the phone that was going off in his pocket.

"Sure..." Joey muttered.

As soon as that word was out of his mouth, the noise stopped and Atem looked up with a look that said, '_See? __If __they __were __important, __they'd __call __back.' _He shrugged and started to tear the piece of grass up in his hands.

XxxxX

Yugi frowned when the answering machine picked on but he flipped his phone shut, not wanting to leave a message and re-opened the phone. _'Oh, __brother,_' He thought but smiled. He went back to Contacts list after the screen went back to normal and search for his brother's name. Then he pushed the Send button and waited.

This time, he was in luck. At the third ring, someone picked up and answered the phone.

Yugi sighed in relief at hearing his brother's voice. At least he knew he was alright. He took a deep breath and said, "Atem!"

XxxxX

No sooner had the gang went back to an awkward conversation, feeling out of it again, had the noise started back up. This time, Atem frowned and fished for his phone. Everyone went quiet and watched him as he flipped it open and answered it, without even bothering to look at the caller ID.

"Hello?" He answered using his normal voice. He was wondering who could be calling at a time like this.

"_Atem!"_ The voice on the other line practically yelled.

Atem's eyes went big and his jaw almost dropped. He could recognize that voice from anywhere. The grass that he was still shredding slipped from his hand and then his hand tightened into a fist. His friends noticed the sudden change in him and grew curious. What he had said made them react the same way with their jaws dropping.

"Yugi? Is that you?"Atem said in disbelief.

There was a light laugh before he answered, "_The __one __and __only."_

_"_Oh, my Ra!Are you alright?" A surge of questions started popping into his head and before he could even sort them all out, they escaped from his mouth, "Where are you? What has happened? Is mom alright? Are you alright?" He repeated.

"Yugi?" Tea said, shocked. She wanted to grab the phone from Atem but knew better. Right now, he needed to talk with Yugi more than she did. She looked around and saw that Joey's eyes were lit up and he too, was itching to grab the phone away. Tristan let out a silent sigh of relief and closed his eyes. Then after a bit, he re-opened them.

"_I'm __fine, __Atem, __and __don't __worry, __mom's __fine __too. __We're __right __now __at __my __dad's __house. __But __what __about __you, __are __you __alright? __Is __Jii-chan __alright?"_His voice was filled with concern but from what Atem could tell, he sounded alright.

Ryou frowned upon hearing their frien'ds name and looked away. He started to think.

Atem breathed a sigh of relief that his partner was alright, but his voice was tight when he asked, "What about your father, has he done anything to you yet?"

There was a pause on the other line that nearly caused Atem to wish he still had his shadow magic and he still shared a body with Yugi. Then, Yugi answered, "_No, __he __hasn't. __Besides __being __rude, __he __hasn't __done __anything __to __either __me __or __mom. __I __think __it __was __because __Grandma __(_A/N I was going to use the Japanese term, Baa-chan, but to me, it just doesn't sound right... :/ But, I'll be sticking with Jii-chan for grandpa. :) ) _was __here. __I __don't __think __my __father __has __told __her __anything __other __than __he __was __going __to __bring __me __and __mom __home. __Well, __that's __what __I __think, __anyway. __She __hasn't-,"_

"Wait, did you just say grandma?" Atem interrupted him. Never before had he heard Yugi talk about his grandma. He knew he had one because grandpa has explained just a little about her, but he never thought of Yugi meeting her in person or ever talking to her. He was a bit shocked.

_"Yes, __yes __I __did." _A rather happy Yugi said. "_She __said __she __was __going __to __take __me __out __somewhere __on __Saturday __so __we __can __talk. __I __guess __that's __the __only __bright __side __of __being __here..." _He added, sounding a bit glum.

Before Atem could respond to that, Ryou interrupted him, "Atem, can I see the phone?" He asked, his brow down low, thinking hard on something. When he was handed the phone, he put the receiver to his ear and said, "Yugi, this is Ryou."

_"Ryou? __Hi!" _Yugi's voice sounded.

"Hey." He greeted him back and ignored his friend's curious looks. "Okay, I have a question for you and I don't mean anything by it. I'm just really curious.'

"_Alright, __shoot; __what's __up?"_

"How are you alive?" He asked. There was silence on both sides and when he looked at his friend's, most of them were confused except for Atem. Ryou could almost picture the great pharaoh face palming his forehead on why he hadn't asked that one important question. "I mean, you're there while Atem is here. I'm pretty sure you are out of this country, so why aren't you... you know..." he didn't finish his sentence, but he didn't need to; everyone knew what he was trying to get at.

"_Well, __you __probably __won't __believe __it, __but __it's __because __of __Bakura __that __I'm __still here __and __not __burned __up." _Yugi said.

Ryou frowned. "Bakura? How? Wait, he's there? Why?" Before he could hear the answer, Joey grabbed the phone from his hand and pushed the speaker on the phone, probably curious on what was going on. They all stared at the little black phone sitting in the blonds' hand. Before he let Yugi explain, he added, "Oh, and you are on speaker phone."

" _Alright,"_ he answered him before explaining, "_Uh... __well, __I __can't __really __say __why __he's __here; __he __already __threatened __me..." _Yugi said a bit nervous. "_But, __he's __the __only __thing __keeping __me __from __turning __in to __a __crisp, __so __I __at __least __owe __him __that. __All __I __can __say __was __when __I __was __at __the __airport __he __found __me __and __cured __me __with __his __own __Dark. __I __never __knew __we __could __switch __Dark's __like __that." _He said, thinking aloud. "_Anyways, __he's __going __to __try __to __find __a __hotel __that's __near __my __father's __house __because __where __he __is, __he's __feeling __the __side __effects __of __my __Light. __Apparently, __I __have __a __lot __of __Light __and __it's __giving __him __a __head-ache... __Hey, Atem, __do __I __really __have __that __big __of __a __Light?"_

"I don't know..." Said name answered. "You are the only person I have ever shared my Dark with so I wouldn't have a clue." Leave it to Yugi to ask the weird questions.

"Yo, Yuge," Joey said loud enough for his voice to be heard.

"_Joey?"_

"Yup." He smiled. "So bud, what's your plan? I know you have one now, right? You're going to bust your plan into action any minute and come home, right?"

"_Uh..." _Was his reply.

"Give him a break," Tea said, frowning upon the blond. "He just got there; you expected he had a plan that quick?"

"Well, yeah," Joey shot back. "I would have thought he ditched his dad at the airport and rode a different plane back here."

Tristan snorted, "Wow, that sounds dumb, even for you, Joey." He received a punch on the arm and returned the punch right back. Next thing you know, the two were about to get into a wrestling match before Tea grabbed her water bottle, opened it and threw the water at the two boys. They yelped and quickly broke apart, sitting down like behaved little high school boys that grumbled.

It was quiet, but only for a minute when Yugi said, "_Hey, __guys. __But,_ t_o __be __honest, __I __haven't __thought __of __any __ways __on __how __to __get __home. __I'm __trying __to __see __why __my __father __brought __me __here __first __before __I __do __anything. __Sorry..."_

"Just remember, Yugi," Tea said, fixing her attention back to the black phone, "We'll wait for you. Just try and hurry back."

"_I __will. __I __love __you __guys." _He said. "_And __what __I __said __in __my __letter __about __coming __home __before __graduation, __I _will _be __back __before __then." _He promised. "_I __can't __imagine __not __graduating __without __my __friend's." _There was a pause on his side and then he suddenly remembered something. "_Hey, __Atem?"_

"Yes?"

_"Is __Jii-chan __okay?" _He asked. Earlier when he asked, he never got an answer and he really wanted to know. The last thing he remembered was the elderly man laying unconscious on the floor. He was old and getting hit like how he did could trigger a heart attack or something. That wouldn't have been a fun thing to come home to.

Atem nodded, even though his partner couldn't see him. "Yes, he is fine. Though, he misses you like crazy."

"_Good." _There was a quiet sigh before Yugi asked, "_And __what __about __Iggi? __Is __he __alright?"_

At the sound of the beagle's name, Atem tensed up. His friend's looked down at the grass, already knowing what had happened to the dog. "Uh..." Atem said, wishing that there was an easier way to say this. "Aibou, there's something you need to understand about Iggi..."

"_Why? __What's __wrong __with __him?" _His voice quickened and he sounded panicky.

"Iggi... he's-,"

"_I'm __sorry, __but __Yugi __can't __talk __anymore," _A new voice interrupted Atem. This voice was male and sounded a bit deep and also a bit annoyed. "_He's __not __allowed __to __use __the __phone __so __please, __don't __call __back. __If __you __do, __there __might __be __some __trouble. __And __I'm __sure __you __don't __want __that __to __happen."_

Atem almost growled and clenched his hands into fists, feeling his nails dig into his skin. His friend's looked a bit surprised about the voice but didn't say anything. They watched as Atem grabbed his phone and turned the speaker off so that it was just one on one."Chokichi! If you lay a single finger on him -,"

"_Have __a __nice __day." _He interrupted and then the connection broke.

"Damn it!" Atem yelled and snapped his phone shut, wanting ever so badly to throw the small electronic against the tree.

XxxxX

"I thought I told you you were not allowed to use the phone," Chokichi said, snapping the cell phone shut and crossing his arms over his chest. He had been in the hall, going to his room to get a change of clothes when he was passing Yugi's room he he heard his son's voice. He stopped and tried to listen for a second one but when he didn't get one, he opened the door and walked in.

His son hadn't noticed him as he was laying on his back and staring up at the ceiling, so he walked into the room and swiped the phone from his grasp, startling the teenager to where he almost yelped.

Yugi quickly got to his feet and stared at his father. "You never said I wasn't allowed to use a cell phone." He said in a cold tone, for some reason not at all affected by his father's imitating stance. "And anyways, I just needed to talk to my brother to make sure he was alright."

Chokichi just glared at him and said, "A cell phone is the exact same thing as a normal phone. I don't want you using any phones whether it is a cell phone, house phone, school phone, IPod, one on the computer or anything else."

"Why not?" He demanded, "What's a simple phone call going to do?"

"That is not the point." Chokichi said, his irritation growing.

"Then what is?"

The father reached out and slapped his son hard against the face. "To respect your elders, boy. I told you not to do something so I should expect you to listen."

Yugi's cheek stung but he refused to show any pain as he looked back to the man who he was supposed to call father. "I will show you respect when you show me some." He said, his voice dropping an octave.

Chokichi opened his mouth to respond to that statement but then he closed it and smiled, though it came out more in a smirk. He simply shook his head, pocketed the phone and turned around.

As he was walking towards the door, Yugi asked him, "Where are you going with my phone?" He sounded a bit upset and mad.

"You won't need it," he answered without turning around. "Now go to bed like a good little boy." He exited the room and closed the door behind him. But before he did, he turned the light off, just because he could. As he took a right, going the way towards his room, he shook his head. '_I __can __already __foresee __a __lot __of __punishment __for __this __child.__'_

Yugi glared at the door as it closed before falling onto his bed. He crossed his arms against his chest and glowered at the ceiling. '_I __can __already __see __him __earning __the __worst __father __award.__' _He thought. As he let the anger roll off of him for the next couple of minutes, he rolled over to his side and stared at the dark wall. Replacing his anger were tears filling his eyes.

As his tears slide down his face, he closed his eyes and sniffled. Everything on what had happened over the last twenty-four hours was hitting him as he finally broke down. He wanted to go back home. He wanted to be with his family and friends. He wanted to find out if his dog was alright. Atem didn't get to finish his sentence on Iggi's condition and by the way he was about to explain the dog, didn't sound good.

"'_Aibou, __there's __something __you __need __to __understand __about __Iggi...'"_Was what Atem had said. But, what could that mean?

Yugi squeezed his eyes shut as his tears squeezed out. He hid his face in the blankets to try and muffle his sobs. "Please… please be okay. I already have to be away from home… I don't need to come back to a dead…" he couldn't even finish his sentence.

For the rest of the night, he stayed up, crying. When no more tears came, he laid awake, staring back at the wall. He couldn't fall asleep, no matter how exhausted he was; his mind was full of worry and guilt and a whole lot of other emotions that he couldn't quiet his mind.

XxxxX

'Til next time! :D Yeah, sorry that the ending was pathetic…. It was hard trying to think of a great ending for this chapter. And also, before I let you go, I wanted to apologize! I usually reply to y'alls reviews, but, I've had no time. Please understand! But I do have to answer someone's question. R. N. Walker, Sadly, no… I don't have a kitten named Zorc. I've been trying though! I want to get an all black boy cat (or gray since my parents don't want a black cat). And with that, I bid y'all a Farwell! See y'all next chapter!


	21. Breaking the First Rule

Lisa: Happy late Halloween! *Munches on a lollipop and gives chocolate to cat*

Zorc: Meooow! *purrs and starts licking candy*

Sorry the chapter was late… I've been getting really bad about that. *Snatches candy away and glares at her yami*

Lisa: Ya think? You probably made them mad too.

Yeah.. sorry! As much as I hate using excuses, I have to explain why this chapter was late. It all began—

Lisa: Spare us the life long story already! They don't need to know every detail!

.. Fine. Homework, projects, writers block, and being stupid. There, those are my excuses…. Which they are all true. :/

Lisa: That isn't what I meant, stupid.

HEY! No need for name calling! But, homework and projects were a minor problem, fyi. Writers block was a good part of why the chapter took forever. I just couldn't figure out what to write… and then, as I got ¾'s done with my chapter, I ended up losing my flash drive. It somehow fell out of my pocket… And don't worry, I decided that if I get another one, I'm going to somehow attach it to my…

Lisa: Sounds painful.

Not that way! Just like attach it to my keys! I ended up having to re-write the whoooole thing… :/ But, I think I'm happy about that; this chapter is waaay better than the first. Enough of my chatter and on to the pain-in-my-butt chapter!

**Disclaimer:I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Just my own characters!**

Chapter Nineteen:

"Chokichi, my man; you're back!" A rather cheery voice rang out in the quiet building, getting a few annoyed looks from people who were not morning people.

Said name looked from his newspaper and faked a smile as he descended away from the elevator he had just gotten off of. "Morning, Charlie." He politely greeted his co-worker and continued on his way to his office cube to get his day started. That and he could set his belongings down so he could get a cup of coffee. He was in dire need of one.

Charlie quickly set the lid back onto his own coffee cup and exited the break room so he could follow his colleague back to his desk. "Man, where have you been? It's been boring without you here, even though when you are, you don't really interact with other people," he said, blabbering on like every normal morning. "What I mean is, it's just been different with you not here because it's not the same, get my drift?" He asked as he met up with Chokichi at the man's desk. He leaned against the wall of the office cube and took a sip of his drink.

Chokichi raised an eyebrow like he was paying attention when really, he was trying to think of a way to get rid of this twenty-six year old. He sat his bag on the ground and his newspaper on his desk. He reached down and pushed the button to turn his computer on.

"Sure," he grumbled, when Charlie paused for a minute to see if he was paying attention.

Satisfied with the answer, he continued on, "Well, you didn't really miss anything while you were gone. Well, maybe a few phone calls… and a meeting, but that wasn't really important, so I wouldn't really be worried about it." He took another sip and watched the older man get situated at his desk. "You did get this call from a chick who you tried to contact before you left. I was the one who took the message so the information is in your drawer."

Chokichi nodded and opened the drawer of his desk to find a random piece of paper with stuff written on it. "Was there any other phone calls?" He asked as he closed his desk and set the paper next to his phone for later use.

"Um… Not that I can recall, but you might want to speak to Danzo or Tyran; they were the ones who took most of your calls." He said. "Anyways, what were you doing? You just one day never showed up and we thought you gotten sick and forgot to call. We went over to your house and found out the place was empty."

Getting slightly annoyed from all of the talking, Chokichi said, "I went-," He was cut off by someone new.

"Wow, it's not even eight and you're already bombarded with questions," the two looked over and found Danzo West depositing his belongings in the office cube diagonal from Chokichi's before walking over to them. Danzo was a well-build man for being in his late thirties. He was six foot one and had the build like a football player, even though he had never played football other than throwing the ball for his second son. He had light brown, military cut hair and a well trimmed beard with some white hairs appearing in some places. People say it was from all of the stress he endured with by raising two teenagers -a boy and a girl- and a ten year old while others just made fun of his because he was getting old. He hated dressing in suits for work, even though it was his uniform, but he got away with wearing a nice polo shirt and a neck tie.

"Hey, Danzo," Chokichi greeted him, but more out of friendliness. They two were close friends ever since the beginning of working here when they got hired at the same time. Some would say they were even best friends since they always shared everything together like information, beers and other stuff. And whenever one was gone, the other would take his place just like he had always been doing that particular job, without even having to be asked or told.

Said name walked over to the cube and leaned against the other wall, stifling a yawn from the early morning. He acknowledged his co-worker, Charlie, with a nod of his hand before asking, "So, why did you just suddenly leave without telling us?" He asked. "You missed the guys' night out with Tyran, me, Charlie and a few others. It was one hell of a night." He grinned, showing that there was a great story that was to be told later on.

Chokichi shrugged, "It's nothing important," he said, though with his own smile, the two could tell it was.

"C'mon, you know it is."

"Alright, it was, but you're probably not interested in it." He turned to his computer, noticing that the Log-In page was up. He quickly typed in his password and waited for it to bring his belongings up before turning back to the co-workers.

Danzo rolled his forest-green eyes, "C'mon, man; spill. I want to know every detail on why you were gone."

Charlie frowned at the two. It sounded like they were both in high school, gossiping about the latest news. Or in a guy's case, brag about something he did or got over the weekend. '_Sometimes, __I __just __don__'__t __understand __old __people.__" _he thought and took another sip of his beverage, staying quiet as he listened.

"Hey, look whose back!" Another voice sounded. Instead of everyone looking to see who it was, he came over to them, his belongings still in hand. Tyran came over, grinning. Unlike Danzo, he looked like an average man. He had broad shoulders, a hell of a tan, and stood around five foot nine, five foot ten. He went to the gym three times a week, though it didn't show, not unless you challenged him to an arm wrestle or a fight. He had short dirty-blond hair that fit his baby-blue eyes and narrow chain. He was in his early forties, but with his blond hair, you couldn't tell if he had any gray's or white's. He wore a suit everyday and didn't really complain about it.

"What's been shakin', Chokichi?" Tyran asked.

"Not much, Tyran." Said name replied. "You?"

He just shrugged, "Same old same old. So, what happened? Did you have some kind of emergency you had to tend to without even tellin' us, your closest friends?" He asked, giving a mocking sad face.

"That's what we were trying to find out," Danzo said in a joking way, "before you came and interrupted him from spilling." He playfully shoved his co-worker away, but luckily, Tyran was expecting it and stepped out of the way and grinned at him, mockingly.

The two returned their gaze back to the elder man, waiting for an explanation like a mother whose child stayed out to late.

Chokichi only rolled his eyes, "You guys," he sighed with a smile but started off anyways, "I had to go to Japan and it was a last minute ordeal. I didn't have any time to explain myself to y'all, only our boss."

Danzo raised an eyebrow, "Japan? What the hell was in Japan that you had to leave in a hurry?"

"My family." Chokichi said and grinned at his friend's reactions. All three of them were shocked, but more so on Danzo and Tyran. Before he gave them time to ask questions, he explained himself, "I had called my wife a day or so before I actually left and we ended up talking for a few hours. What it mostly came down to was that she wanted to come live with me so we could be a family, along with my son." He lied with ease. He felt bad that he had to lie to his closest friends, but he couldn't tell them the truth; only bad things would happen.

They stared at him, astonieshd. Danzo had his mouth opened in the shape of an 'O' while Tyran's eyebrows were up in the air in amazement. Charlie, on the other hand, looked like he was thinking on something, something that caused him to really think because he had creases form on his forehead.

"Hold the bus. You're saying that you and your wife made up after several years and that you left to go pick her and your son up to bring them here?" Tyran asked and Chokichi nodded." Now y'all are living as a family?" He nodded once again. "Dude, that's awesome!" He grinned real big.

Danzo recovered and smiled along with his co-worker. "So when are we gonna meet them?" He asked. "I'm kind of curious on what kind of woman fell in love with the likes of you." He joked and gave a wink.

"I don't know on the meeting part," Chokichi said, ignoring the last statement made, "But hopefully soon. They're trying to get settled in with the jet lag and stuff."

"Aw, we'll meet them this Saturday," Tyran shrugged to show that it was no big deal. "You know, when we go out drinking. Or, are you gonna bail on us again?" He raised an eyebrow, playfully questioning the elder man.

"Psh, I don't know about you," he said, "but I am in dire need of a drink. You can count me in on Saturday." The three started to laugh.

Charlie looked around before the thought finally came to him, "Wait," he said, stopping the guys good time. "You said your son came with you, right?" He received a nod and then ignored Danzo rolling his eyes. "So, he now lives in Texas? At your home?"

"That's what I meant, Charlie." Chokichi said, trying to show that he wasn't getting annoyed. For a twenty-six year old, he wasn't always the brightest.

Suddenly, that twenty-six year old eye's brightened like a little kid. "So you're saying Yugi Mutou is now in Texas?" He tried to hide his excitement as it dawned on him. The other three looked at him a little lost. "Yugi Mutou." He said, "You remember, the King of Games? He's really famous!"

Danzo finally figured out who he was talking about, "Oh, that guy. The one that keeps getting into the papers, right?" He looked to one of his closest friends. "I forgot he's your son."

"Oh, my gods! Yugi Mutou is in Texas!" Charlie felt like yelling but knew better and kept it in his normal pitch. "Can I meet him?"

Tyran turned to look away to keep from snickering, but to no avail. Danzo and Chokichi rolled their eyes at the youngling's excitement.

"I guess," was what he said. "But you'll have to come by this weekend; he'll be busy with starting school."

"Oh, that's alright with me!" Charlie said, now overly excited that his coffee wasn't in need anymore. "But oh, I can't believe I'll be meeting the King of Games! And not to mention, he's your son! Oh my! I've heard and read so much about him! I wonder if he'll play a game with me? I used to be good with it; always being challenged by my younger siblings." And he started back up with his normal blabber.

Tyran looked like he wanted to say something when he collected himself back up, but he looked at his wristwatch on his wrist for the time and almost yelped. "Oh, well, I'll talk to you guys later. Maybe over lunch?" He didn't even look up with the last bit he said as he scurried away from Chokichi's office and to his own where he sat his things down and left for the break room.

Chokichi rolled his eyes as Danzo said, "I'm wondering how much longer before he asks her out. It's been what, four months now that they've been flirting?"

"More like five," Chokichi corrected. Their friend had been flirting with one of their co-workers; a pretty brunette girl that was only a year younger than him. She had been single for quite some time now, and everyone in the office knew that they had a thing going on with one another, but they wouldn't do anything about it. Even their boss, Mr. Maxwell knew about it.

"Well, I'll talk to you at lunch," Danzo said, "I got to start my work before the boss makes a random check-up on things." He rolled his eyes.

Chokichi bit his lip, "Hey, I won't be at lunch with you guys; I have to get home because I told Miyuki that I'd be there to check up on them." He looked apologetic towards his friend who just shrugged.

"Ah, no big deal, man. I know the lady comes first." He winked before turning around to head back to his office to start his daily work.

All that was left was Charlie who had gone quiet before Tyran left. Right now, he was looking at his phone, checking for messages from his girlfriend. Chokichi waited for him to look up, but after a minute and he didn't, he made a noise in the back of his throat to get his attention.

"Ahem."

The younger of the two looked up and looked a little sheepish as he slipped his cell back into his pocket. "Ah, sorry, just texting my girl." He said. "She's an early riser," he explained when he received an confused look. "She works at the elementary as a teacher so she has to be up early. But, anyways, I really look forward to meeting your wife and son." He said, his excitement seemed like it had vanished altogether. But, if you looked really closely, you could see that it all had disappeared to his eyes.

"Ah, cool." He said. "And yeah, just come by Saturday and I'll introduce you to them, along with everyone else." He smiled.

Charlie nodded his head. They stood (or in Chokichi's case, sat) in an awkward silence for a minute or two before Charlie decided to nod his head once again and state, "Well, I'll be heading to my office now; a lot of work to be done."

"Alright."

"So, see you around," He started walking away. Chokichi gave a huff, thankful that he could finally get to work on today's work. He didn't have any catching up to do since he did all that he could while he was gone, so all he had to concentrate on was today's work. He turned around in his chair to face his computer but didn't get very far when Charlie called out to him, "Oh hey, Chio, you should try bringing your son to work one day." He said, using a nickname he had made up for Chokichi when he first started working here. He could never say the Japanese word so he created a simpler one so he could start remembering the real one. Chokichi looked over his shoulder to find the youngling walking backwards as he spoke. "'Bring your kid to work' day is coming up real soon, maybe in like two weeks or somethin'. You should try it. I'm sure Yugi doesn't even know where you work at and it's a great time to bond more with him." He just shrugged and turned back around, heading over to his office now.

Chokichi rolled his eyes and returned his gaze back to his computer screen that was waiting on him to do something. He clicked on a few files and started his work. The idea of bringing his son was running through his brain, him thinking upon if he should do that or not.

XxxxX

Yugi stared at his wall without moving as the morning sunlight filtered his room. He had a rough night last night from not sleeping to some nightmares he had. The first nightmare was filled with gore and people getting hurt. He didn't know why he had that dream since it was filled with people he didn't know, it was more like it was a re-run of some horror movie. He also had another nightmare about Atem slowly freezing to death. That one was a weird one, especially when Yugi got a chance to explore his others soul room in the dream.

Atem's room had changed from being a maze to a normal kids room, minus it looking like it belonged in Ancient Egypt. It look like a mini melting pot in his room from being mixed with the Egypt and Japan culture. The floor of his room was sandy and it was warm like the sun was blazing down upon it, even though there was no sun in his soul room. The walls weren't really walls, they were more like a 3-D background of Egypt; of the pyramids and the palace he grew up in. The Nile also shown on the wall, which was cool to watch. It was like being there in Egypt, watching people three thousand years ago going on with their daily lives. Though, if you tried to join them by touching the wall, you only came in contact with a firm, solid brick wall. Among the rest of the room were artifacts from Egypt but also from modern day Japan like a dueling disk and other's. His room was just filled with interesting things that reflected his being.

But, when Yugi had visited it during his dream, his room was like being in the Arctic. The room was covered in a thick layer of ice and snow and it felt like the winter had over taken the nice warm room. Ice sickles hung from the ceiling in thick forms all around the room. For some reason, it scared him so much because it reminded him of his own room in how his own soul room had been burning up because Atem wasn't with him to tame his Light with his Dark. he didn't know why he connected it with his own past experience, but he just did.

'_I'll __just __ask __Bakura __about __it __when __I __see __him __later __today,' _he thought as he blinked his heavy eyes. Every time he did so, his eyes felt like closing so he could fall asleep, but it never worked; he would just lay there with his eyes closed, giving himself a huge head-ache.

There was a soft knock at the door before it opened and a soft voice called into the room, "Honey, are you awake?"

Yugi turned over on his bed and sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Yup," he answered in a groan. "Have been basically all night."

His mom walked into his room, tightening her bathrobe around her like she was cold. She sat down on the edge of his bed and gently smiled, "Same here. It's going to take some time to get use to this time change." Like her son, she had bags under her eyes and had a rough night.

Yugi nodded. "What time is it?" He asked and let out a small yawn.

"A little after nine thirty." She answered him. "Chokichi left a couple of hours ago to go to work. I heard him leave and then I found a note on the counter."

"What did the note say?"

She shrugged, "Just what he told us last night about not leaving the house under no circumstances and not to call anyone because if we do, he will know. I don't really know how, but I rather not test that statement." She gazed around the room for a minute before turning her attention back to her son. "Are you hungry? We have full access to whatever is in the pantry."

Yugi nodded, feeling his stomach twist at the thought of food. "Yeah, I didn't really eat anything last night."

"Same here," Miyuki agreed. She leaned forward and kissed his forehead and as she was pulling back, said, "How 'bout you go change, take a shower or whatever you need while I make us some breakfast. Scrambled eggs sound good?" She stood up and started to make her way out of the room. She looked over her shoulder and received a nod.

After his mom left the room, Yugi looked around the room, wanting to lie back down but knew he needed to get up. When he did, he walked over to his dresser and pulled out fresh clothes and quickly got dressed. He wanted to take a shower, but he didn't have toiletries he needed and he guessed that his father didn't have spare in the bathroom across from his bedroom.

Once he was dressed, he looked in the mirror on the wall and bit his lip. His appearance looked a little depressed with the lack of sleep showing and the way he held himself up. He was slouching a bit and his shoulders stumped. But the dreams -or nightmares- made a big dent on him.

He ran a hand through his hair and muttered to himself, "I just hope my dreams meant nothing. I already have enough things to worry about here. Just please, be alright, Mou Hitori no boku." With a small sigh, he turned around and exited his room.

XxxxX

After channel surfing for five minutes, Miyuki finally decided to click on an American movie called _Shrek_. (1) She tucked her feet underneath her on the couch and quickly glanced to her son lying in a ball next to her. His head was resting on the couch's arm-rest and his eyes were glued to the TV screen as the movie had just begun. She smiled and returned her gaze back to the screen.

As the grandfather clock in the office had just stroked eleven-thirty, Yugi let out a yawn. He started to nod off to sleep, but then he would quickly jerk himself back awake. This happened a few times before he felt a hand rubbing his back.

"If you're tired, why don't you just go to sleep?" Miyuki asked.

Yugi didn't take his eyes away from the screen. They were just at the part where Shrek and Fiona were telling each other that they loved one another at the church were Fiona and Lord Farquaad were supposed to get married. "I don't want to miss anything."

"And what would you be missing?" She lightly laughed. "There's not much going on around here."

He just shrugged, knowing that he couldn't tell her that he needed to stay awake so he wouldn't miss his father getting home and then leaving. He had decided that after his father had left to go back to work, he would wait for a few minutes before telling her that he had to go meet Bakura somewhere in town.

Just as he was thinking of something to say, a soft noise of key's jingling caught his attention. He moved his head away from the TV and looked in the direction of the door just as those key's started to unlock it. Miyuki did the same.

The door opened and Chokichi entered. He had his cell phone squished in-between his shoulder and his ear as one hand was holding a brown paper sack and his other hand was busy getting the key's out from the door. He was talking softly into the phone, not paying any attention to the people slowly sitting up on the couch.

"Yes ma'am," he said, talking into his phone, "I'll have that faxed to you as soon as I get back to my office. Uh huh... You too. Have a great day, Mrs. Prie." He closed the door with his foot and grabbed his phone with his hand that held his keys, to close it. He still didn't pay any attention to his family as he slipped his shoes off, placed his phone into his suit's pocket and started to walk towards the kitchen. As he was passing the small table with picture frames on it, he placed his keys down there.

"So, I see your both still here." He finally said to them as he laid the bag on the counter and started to take things out.

Miyuki slightly glared at her husband as she and Yugi walked into the kitchen, but not before Miyuki turned the TV off. "And where do you think we would go?" She asked as casually as she could with a hint of sarcasm in it.

Chokichi shrugged. "A lot of places. It's just nice to see that someone can follow rules when they are given."

Yugi didn't flinch, even though he knew that statement was intended for him. He just leaned against the table with his arms crossed and stayed quiet.

The woman of the house didn't understand what he had meant by that, but knew better and kept quiet.

Satisfied that neither one talked back, Chokichi continued, "Well, I brought some Take-out home for lunch. I don't have much to eat here, as you can tell, but that will be changed later tonight. I get off at five and when I get home, we'll all be going to the store." He said and looked up on the word _all._

Miyuki walked around her husband over to the counter that held the plates and cups. It took her half the morning to get used to where everything was, and then the rest of the morning to memorize it. She opened the cabinet up and took down three plates and then three cups. She closed the cabinets door and opened the drawer right below. In the drawer, she took out the needed silverware and placed them on the plates. Without even needing to ask her son to set the table, Yugi was already walking over to grab the plates just as his mom started to fill the cups with ice and water from the tap.

As Yugi set the table and Miyuki filling the cups, Chokichi brought the food over to the table. Once everything was done, they gathered at the table and started to eat in silence.

XxxxX

"Remember, do not leave this house or I will know." Chokichi said for what seemed like the millionth time that day. "I have my ways," he added when he saw his son open his mouth to give a smart remark.

Yugi frowned and said nothing as he closed his mouth again.

Lunch was done and all the dishes were washed and put away. Chokichi had to get going or he was going to be late for work. He had slipped his shoes back on and grabbed his keys and was talking as he walked out the door.

"No using the phone or computers. Just find some way to entertain yourselves whether it be reading or watching television or play some games which are in the hallway's closet." He said. Miyuki watched him go and nodded her head to show she was paying attention. He opened the door and took a step out. "I'll be home in a couple of hours." Was his last comment before he closed the door and locked it behind him.

The two waited for a moment. Within a couple of seconds, they heard the car's engine purr to life, even though they were inside and the car was out. The car backed out of the driveway and zoomed off. But the two still stayed where they were, not daring to move.

After a moment, they both relaxed their tense postures and looked at one another.

Yugi waited for a minute as he stayed leaning against the couch's armrest, half sitting on it. His arms were crossed at his chest. He was wondering how he should tell his mom that he needed to leave. But, leave it up to mother's to always be a step ahead.

Miyuki sat down on the edge of the couch and looked at her son, "So, who are you going to be meeting and for how long?" She casually asked.

He looked a little dumbfounded but quickly recovered, "H-how did you know I was going to be leaving?"

"You've been tense and quiet all morning," She chuckled and rolled her eyes. "And for one, you're dressed like you normally do when you go out." She said, referring to his black jeans, white T-shirt and socks on his feet. His hair was straight, not a single strand out of place, and he wore his double looped belt around his waist. Not something you really want to wear if you were just going to be at home all day.

Yugi looked down at his attire before saying, "Oh... Well, I'm going to meet up with Bakura somewhere in town." He said and looked back up. "You're not going to make me stay here and follow orders, are you?" He bit his lip, wondering what the answer was. He never snuck out of the house with a parent knowing he was going to, so he had no idea.

"As long as you're not gone that long. I don't know if Chokichi will check up on us or if there really is someone watching out for us to make sure we don't leave. I can't tell if he's bluffing or not." She answered him. "But, do you know where you're going to meet Bakura at?"

He shook his head. "Bakura doesn't know anything about this place and neither did I when we were talking. All he said was he would meet me somewhere in town. I would call him, but dad... took my phone up." He pouted a bit at the end.

Miyuki nodded. "I would give you my cell, but I left it back in Japan." She then stood up and walked to her son until they were face to face and looked him straight in the eyes. She grabbed one of his hands and squeezed it. "You're going to have to be quick about this. I don't exactly know how I'll stall, but I'll try if Chokichi decides to come back early." She kissed his forehead and asked in a soft voice, "Oh, where did my baby go? Last time I saw him was when he was wrestling with his brother. Instead of acting all grown up and mature." She faked a tear in her eyes.

Yugi rolled his eyes, "I'm still here, mom." When she pulled back, he smiled. "I've just grown up and taking things into my own hands so nothing happens."

"I know." She released her son's hand and stepped back. "I suggest you wait a few minutes before you leave, just in case."

He nodded. "Alright, but I'm going to put my shoes on."

XxxxX

He never realized how big the town was until now. Yugi had been roaming it's streets for half an hour now, barely even covering half the place. He only managed to walk down the streets he had seen the previous day when he was in the car heading towards his father's house. The school, the library, a few buildings on his right that looked abandoned, and the park. Right now, he was wandering along the outskirts of the grassy fields, looking around.

'_Forget __trying __to __be __quick __about __this,'_ he grumbled in his mind._ '__I__'__ll __never __be __able __to __find __Bakura, __that __is, __if __he's __even __here.'_ He still had no clue if his silver haired 'friend' was here. For all he knew, he could be walking around aimlessly. That would probably explain some of the weird looks he was receiving from people walking by, going the opposite way.

He crossed the street to where the City Hall was and all the other important buildings every city/town had. As he was passing by, a lone figure was leaning against the wall, his eyes closed, head tilted down, and his arms crossed at his chest. Before Yugi could even call out his name, he said, "'Bout time you got here, Mutt."

Ignoring the name, Yugi shrugged, "My father didn't leave until eleven to go back to work."

"Well, you could have at least called me." He snorted and looked up.

"He took... my phone away." Yugi admitted in a soft voice. "Didn't want me calling anyone."

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Okay, whatever. But c'mon, there's a cafe or bakery or whatever the hell it's called, the next street over and I'm starving." He pushed against the wall and started walking in the direction Yugi had been walking in.

Quickly, Yugi followed him. "Didn't you eat anything?"

"No."

"And why not?"

Bakura glanced over, his face imitating that he was getting annoyed with all of the questions. "Didn't have time. When I finally found a hotel this morning, I came straight here because of this damn head-ache. And by the way, you're paying for my meal."

Yugi frowned and protested, "What? I'm not going to pay for your food! Buy it yourself!"

"With what money?"

"Oh... I really, don't like you." Yugi muttered and shook his head in annoyance. Luckily though, he had decided to bring his wallet and had left over money from when he and Tea had gone out on a date last weekend. Just thinking of his girlfriend brought a ache to his chest.

The thief grinned. "Ryou says the same thing."

"I wonder why..." He said, sarcastically.

In ten minutes tops, the two had turned down the street named Ranchway and walked down it for a while until they came to a small bakery called Tasty Treats. It had a little patio with chairs and tables out front. A few people were eating outside either talking with someone else, reading, or on their computers. The boy's went inside and Bakura ordered a sandwich and an ice tea and Yugi ordered himself a water. They ate outside, in a little corner.

"So," Yugi started off as Bakura took a big bite of his ham sandwich. "You never did tell me why you're here in the first place." He said, referring to be in Texas.

"And why do you want to know?" He questioned, his mouth full of the sandwich. He quickly chewed his food before taking a gulp of his beverage.

"I told you my story, now you should tell me yours; it's only right."

Bakura just rolled his eyes, muttering why he was always stuck with the annoying ones, under his breath before saying, "I have some friends down here and we decided to hang out." He took another bite.

Yugi looked a little curious. "Friends? How'd you make friends all the way down in Texas when you and Ryou live in Japan?"

"It was a year or two ago," he impatiently stated, "Nothing important you need to know. Back to the question on hand; I'm hanging out with friends."

Yugi ignored how he basically just repeated himself and continued on, smirking, "Why did you want to come to a cat convention? I mean yeah, if it was in Japan, I'd understand, but it's in a whole different country. Why waste money on something like that?"

Bakura stopped in the middle of taking another bite of his sandwich and said in a cold voice, his eyes narrowing dangerously, "I wasted no money. I spent it wisely, just like how you would buy duel monster cards. Don't ever insult something like that again while I'm around."

"But I didn't even-," Yugi started to say but was cut off.

"And I'll have you know, this convention is one of the biggest out there. They sell stuff other conventions, like the one back home, would never dream of selling." He chomped down on his food. "And I swear to Ra and all of the other god's combined, you tell anyone the reason why I was here, I swear that I will make your life a living hell by physical and mental torture."

Yugi slightly shivered at that. He had been life threatened by many of people before, but he had to agree that Bakura was really the only one he was scared of. He knew that this thief would do any to everything possible. He lived for this kind of stuff.

"I never even said I was going to tell anyone…"

"Good." It was quiet for maybe two seconds before he cleared his mouth and asked, "So what exactly are you going to do about your father? You don't seem like the kind to do much except let things go on like it has a purpose." He took a sip of his tea and watched his adopted Light play with his water.

"Exactly what I told Atem and everyone else; I have no idea. I really want to know why my father suddenly just showed up one day and then brought me here. He hasn't explained himself yet and it's driving me up the wall." He said. "I'm just really waiting and when I do find the answer out, I'll start forming a plan."

Bakura nodded. "Have you thought of any possibilities on why you're here?"

"I have some, but I really doubt they're right…"

"Alright, spill; what are your thoughts?"

Yugi looked up with a frown. Bakura sure did like to change his personality a lot. (Though he's not by-polar.) "Well… at first, I was thinking it had to do with work. Like he needed someone to show off."

"Yeah, right." Bakura snorted. "He could just easily pick someone off the street, giving him nice clothes and then make up a story for him. I mean, why the hell would he fly all the way to Japan? Next."

"Alright… the other was before, when I had asked him, he said it was because it was for personal business."

"And…?"

"Well… I had a suspicion it had to do with money. I mean, why else would my father come to me?"

Bakura devoured the rest of his sandwich and thought about that statement. As he chewed, Yugi took a sip of his water.

"Do you even have money?" He asked when he swallowed.

Yugi nodded. "I have a lot of prize money from duels I have won over the last year. You won't remember since you were never here, but I had played against Kaiba a few times. Each time, he said that if he lost, he would give me so much amount of money… and well, let's just say I have a lot of money in my account." He grinned. "I also have many scholarships for colleges I won from other duels."

"That could be a reason." Bakura agreed. "Have you been through his mail yet? That will tell you if he's in debt or something."

"What? I don't snoop through other people's things." Yugi said, a bit insulted.

He shrugged, "Well, it might be the only way you will know why you're here." He took a sip form his drink and looked at his wrapper, kind of sad that he had finished his sandwich, even though he was a bit hunger still.

Yugi shook his head. "I'm not going to go through his things. And besides, I think he keeps all of his mail in his office. Well, probably all of his important things."

"And why do you say that?"

"Because I'm not allowed in there. He deliberately told me and my mom not to go in there."

"Sounds like he's hiding something."

Yugi looked at his drink and shrugged. "Everyone hides things so it's not really something new."

The two remain quiet for a minute, thinking things out. Without knowing, Bakura was watching his for-the-time-being Light with a scowl on his face. He could tell something was on the runts mind, be he didn't know if he was wanting to ask about it since he knew it was probably something worthless. But, what did he have to lose?

"Alright, what's wrong, Mutt?"

Said name looked up. "What do you mean?" He asked, a bit confused.

"What's on your mind? My damn Light does the same thing and it's annoying."

"Nothing's on my mind," he lied even though he was thinking about his dream about his brother's soul room freezing. He had just started thinking about it, wondering how he should ask Bakura when it was Bakura who was wanting to know.

Bakura rolled his eyes, "Alright, that's fine with me." And he took a sip of his drink, taunting the kid to see if he would take the bait. His own hikari was a sucker and always ended up talking about whatever he needed to get off his chest.

And Yugi took the bait. "Fine. It's about Atem; I'm worried about him."

"Last time I looked, he was old enough to take care of himself and isn't a runt like you."

He ignored that insult and explained himself, "That's not what I'm worried about. I had a dream last night about his soul room."

Bakura looked up, this time, he being the one confused. "You can still go to his soul room?"

"No," he admitted, "I haven't been in his soul room since before I sent him to the Afterlife. I'm not allowed to enter it at all." Bakura nodded, satisfied. "And anyways, it was a dream I had, so I can't really count that as entering his room.

"Well, during my dream, I was in his soul room and… it was different."

"Duh it'll be different; he's his own being now." Bakura rolled his eyes.

Yugi shook his head, "Again, that isn't what I meant. I know it's different, but it was different by ice."

"Ice?"

He nodded. "There was ice everywhere and his room was cold. His room was always either warm or hot because it represented Egypt. I don't know… It was just really weird and reminded me of…" He trailed off, kind of scared to say his thoughts out loud.

"Kind of like how your soul room was in flames?" Bakura asked. For some reason, he was the expert on soul rooms and hikari's/yami's. If you ever had a question concerning one of those, just ask him, he knew the answer.

He nodded again.

"Well, I wouldn't be too surprised if his room was engulfed in ice."

Yugi looked up. "W-what?"

The old tomb robber leaned back in his chair and brought his leg up to rest on his knee. His narrowed maroon colored eyes were on Yugi's amethyst colored ones when he said, "You're the exact opposite of Atem; you're the Light and he's the Dark. That's why you complete each other, even now. When the baka pharaoh left, he left you with only your Light and what happened after a few months? You're soul room caught fire from your Light. With him, since he's all Dark and not Light, his room will be consumed in anything cold. Kind of like the ice age." He said, matter of factly. "But, if I were you, I wouldn't worry on it too much."

Yugi looked wide-eyed and horrified, but he managed to say, "W-why not?"

"He went to the After Life where he gained his own Light." He said. When his other frowned at him, he gave an annoyed sigh and explained, "When you leave for the After Life, you don't need Light and Dark anymore because the After Life will supply it for you. Being on earth, you need both. For us, we had both; yami and hikari, even though it wasn't in the same body. As long as we stayed near the other, we were fine. You understand that, don't you?"

"Y-yes…"

"Good. Since he left the After Life, he had to have both Dark and Light in him to live here. He probably doesn't know it, but he does have Light. All in all, he doesn't need you to supply him Light but you do need him to supply his Dark. Understand?"

He nodded, trying not to show it, but the words Bakura had just spoken hurt a little. Atem didn't need him because he already had his own Light. But, he (Yugi) just had to be a burden because he didn't have his own Dark and Atem had to supply him his.

"I highly doubt that baka even knows he has his own Light." Bakura said, almost reading Yugi's mind. "So you don't have to be down about it."

"How do you even gain your own Light or Dark?" Yugi asked, quietly.

He shrugged. "I know getting your own Light is really hard. I haven't heard anyone succeeding at it yet but as for Dark, Ryou managed to get his own."

"That's because of you." Yugi rolled his eyes. "He would still be innocent if you weren't being all evil."

Bakura smirked. "That's because I wanted him to get his own Dark. I didn't always want to have to be around him like now, for instance. I am my own being, I didn't want to always be glued to my hikari's side. Do you know how annoying that would be?"

"Whatever."

"Anyways, if you want to be able to get your own Dark, you have to stop being a punk and get some balls." Here he goes with that saying. "Stop acting all nice and friendly and be like your annoying friend's or something." he said, reffering to Joey and Tristan and how they could beat anyone up.

Yugi held up his hand to stop him from going anywhere else with that. "Please, I don't want to take lessons from you about this." He said, not knowing whether to laugh or groan. To be honest, he liked the way he was, even if that meant not exactly being able to stand up to bullies. "I'll just stay as I am…"

Bakura shrugged. "Fine, whatever."

At least Yugi felt a little better about his brother. He might not have to freeze to death if he knows he has Light in him. "Wait," He said, just now thinking of something else, "wouldn't Ryou be able to help supply Atem of his own Light if he didn't know he actually had some?"

"Well, yeah. It'd be just like what I did for you." He said. "All they would have to do if have contact with one other."

"Just like how you touched my forehead..." Yugi muttered under his breath but Bakura heard him.

"Yup."

As they were talking, someone noticed them and frowned. He started to make his way over to the teens, growing suspicious on why they were out here at a time like this. Ooh, they were in trouble.

When he reached the table, unseen by the two teens, he crossed his arms over his chest and asked, "Aren't you two supposed to be in class? You know the rule about skipping."

Yugi looked up, his eyes widen in fear for a second but then it quickly disappeared when he noticed it wasn't his father. Instead, it was a man dressed in blue with badges and patches all over his shirt. On his left shoulder was a walkie-talkie and around his waist was a belt that contained a gun, hand-cuffs, and many more things. On his head was a blue hat with a badge symbol on it along with the words, 'Breaksville, Tx Police'.

"We ain't skipping," Bakura rolled his eyes, annoyed that someone had interrupted him. He slightly glared up at the officer while staying slouched in his chair.

"Oh, well I suppose y'all are just taking the day off then, hm?"

Unlike his other, Yugi straightened in his chair a little and slowly shook his head. In a small but confident voice, he politely explained, "No sir. We haven't been enrolled in school yet." He received a raised eye brow from Bakura about the 'we' but he ignored it.

The officer raised an eyebrow, "Haven't been enrolled yet, hm?" He shifted his weight to lean on one side before adding, "You kids are just trying to think of new ideas, aren't you?"

"I'm sorry, sir?" Yugi was slightly confused, having no idea what the officer was talking about. Ideas? What ideas?

"I need to see some kind of ID for confirmation that you aren't supposed to be at school." He held his hand out, waiting. He looked a little smudged, thinking that he had caught the two skipping.

Yugi started to reach into his back pocket for his school ID even though it was all in Japanese. Bakura remained the way he was, just glaring at the cop.

"Here you go," Yugi said and handed him his ID after he pulled it out from his wallet.

The officer took the card and glanced at it before looking up to say some smart remark when he frowned and did a double take at the ID. Then a triple take. "Is this some kind of joke?" He demanded and flipped the card in his hand to check if it was.

"No, sir." Yugi politely responded. "I just… moved here from Japan and won't be enrolled in school until tomorrow." Which he wasn't looking forward to.

The cop nodded and then turned to Bakura who hadn't made a move at all. "Your ID too, kid." He held on to Yugi's and held his other hand out near Bakura.

"Okay, for starters," Bakura said in a bored voice, "I don't have to give you anything. Second, I don't have an ID. And third, go fuck off; I'm here with him." He nodded his head in Yugi's direction whose eyes widen just a tad. Leave it to the tomb robber to insult a cop.

Before giving the cop any time to speak, Yugi quickly said, "Uh, please excuse my… cousin, Officer…" he looked at the small name tag on the cop's shirt before looking back to the cop's eyes. "White; he doesn't like cops." Yugi sent his 'cousin' one of those looks that was supposed to mean 'be nice' but Bakura just grinned, meaning he wasn't going to.

Officer White narrowed his eyes, "Uh huh, I can see that."

"My cousin left his ID back in Japan, thinking he wouldn't need it." Yugi tried to explain, just saying whatever came to mind. "He's had… bad history with cops, that's why we moved here." He gave a small smile, hoping that sounded convincing.

"Hm… What are y'all names?" He asked, first looking to Yugi and then to Bakura.

"My name is Yugi Mutou, sir." Yugi said.

"Bakura."

Officer White frowned, "What's your first name?" he pointed the question to the silver haired teen.

Bakura did the same and frowned, which came out more of a scowl. "Bakura." He answered again in annoyance.

"Bakura Bakura?"

Yugi, seeing the problem, tried to clear things up, "Oh, his name is Darrel." He said and both males turned to him. "In uh… Japan, our family only calls him Bakura because they don't see a point in using his first name." He hoped the officer didn't notice the sweat forming on the back of his neck.

The cop looked at Bakura for confirming who was glaring at Yugi now. But he nodded his head.

After examining Yugi's ID one more time, finding it a bit fascinating even though he didn't understand anything on it, he handed it back and puffed his chest out, trying to look imitating, though it didn't work. "Alright, I'll let you boys off the hook this once, seeing as how y'all are new to this place. But for the future, don't try skipping school because you _will_ be caught." He tilted his hat in farewell before leaving them.

"What the hell was that?" Bakura asked when the cop was out of sight.

Yugi turned to him and frowned, "What was what?" He stuffed his ID in his wallet again and then placed his wallet back into his pocket.

"_Darrel?_ Was that supposed to be an insult?"

It took the teen a minute to understand what he was talking about, even though he had just said it not even five minutes ago. "What? You needed a first name. People in America use both. And since you don't have both, I had to think of something."

"Really," Bakura said in a tight voice before getting to his feet.

Yugi quickly got to his feet, startled by the sudden movement, "Where're you going?"

They both left the safety of the bakery and now walked down the street.

"I need to get back to the hotel and get some stuff done." He said without looking over his shoulder to Yugi who was trying to catch up with him but was having a bit difficulty. "And since you don't have a plan yet to go back, there's no point in trying to stay here."

Yugi nodded. "Alright." He managed to walk besides the albino but had to basically speed walk to continue to keep up the pace.

"I'll meet you here over the weekend." He announced. "I'll be busy Saturday, but Sunday, meet me at the place we were just at around ten."

"In the morning?" Yugi asked, trying to clarify.

"In the evening, dumbass." He shook his head in annoyance. "We'll talk more then. Now you better get home before something else happens, something worse than a stupid officer catching you."

Yugi stopped walking and watched at Bakura continued until he turned a corner and was out of eye sight.

"I am still asking myself why I'm asking him for help," he mumbled under his breath as he turned around and started walking in the direction he had just came in. "What good can he do?" He shook his head and made his way back to his father's house by memory, taking his time. It wasn't like he was needed there.

XxxxX

Till next time! Wow… that was a long one! Hope that makes up for my absence!

Lisa: Well, it doesn't.

Who says?

Lisa: I do.

Well, don't flatter yourself; you don't count.

Lisa:… Meanie'

You. ^^ Well, one quick announcement before I say my goodbyes! On my profile is another poll! For an FYI, I'm like **nowhere** near done with this story. I still have soooo much planned for it.

Lisa: Like more than ten chapters. (Maybe, just a rough estimate)

Yup. Well, the poll is what I should write to next. I'm having difficulties because I have so many ideas in mind. The summaries are also on my profile. You don't have to vote now, it'll be up until I'm done with story, so please, don't feel like I'm demanding a vote. If you just want to have a say on the next story, please feel free to vote!

1 - I don't know, I just love adding movies/books to my stories. I guess it just gives my stories that realistic feeling.

Byes!


	22. Getting Help

Hey guys!

Well, before I let y'all get to reading, I just have a small, random announcement. For those of you who have read my other story, the Kidnapper, that story and this story are NOT AT ALL SIMILAR. Cassandra is indeed in both stories, but she plays a different part. Both stories are two separate stories and are nothing alike. THEY ARE TWO WHOLE DIFFERENT STORIES!

Lisa: I think they get it...

I know, just needed to make sure. ^^

Lisa: Anyways, this chapter might be a little shorter than the others, but it should be a nice break from reading some long ones. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Just my own characters!**

**Chapter Twenty:**

**Atem's POV:**

When he had gotten home from school that same day, he sought out his grandfather and told him everything that had happened during school, including the part about Yugi calling him. The elderly man was rather surprised and when he heard that Chokichi had interrupted the call, he got mad.

"This outcome won't be a good one," he said while shaking his head slowly. Over the night and to this day, Solomon had tried to act cheery for the sake of Atem and his own health, but he was finding it hard to do. It felt like his world was crashing down on him because his real, blood related grandson wasn't here. Yugi had spent his whole life living in this house and for him to have 'moved' like he did, by force, just didn't make things better. Yugi, in a way was like his own little boy and it broke his heart to not wake up and see his grandson's sleepy form getting ready for school in a rush. Yes, he had Atem, thank Ra he had Atem here, but it wasn't the same. It was just wasn't the same without his grandson here.

Atem nodded and looked away. His mood had enlightened the remainder of school after the phone call from his brother, even if he was angry that Chokichi had interrupted their talking moment. He was just relieved that Yugi had lived to see another day. And hearing his voice on the other end had given him strength to gather his mind and not be too let down that his brother was gone. Let's face it, if Yugi had seen how he was, with barely speaking and depressed, that innocent teen would kick his butt.

Grandpa watched his grandson look away, seeming a bit down again. To try and cheer him up, he announced, "I ordered some pizza for dinner tonight. It should be arriving in about twenty minutes."

The ex-pharaoh looked over and nodded his head. "Alright. I'll be upstairs doing my homework, if that's alright." When he had gotten home from school, he had dropped his bag off on the stairs so he could tell his grandfather about his day. Now he needed to go and retrieve it to start on his homework. Usually, he had it done during school, but he hadn't been in the mood to do it so he left it.

"That's fine," he answered and tried for a smile, succeeding, "I'll call for you when it arrives." He received a nod before Atem walked out of the kitchen. When he left his sight, Grandpa let out a sad sigh, "I wonder how much longer he'll be able to play this act. I never know what to except anymore…"

XxxxX

As Atem made his way through the living room, the sound of the door bell rang. Since he was on his way to the stairs, he decided to get it since he was going in the same direction. "I'll get it," he called out so grandpa didn't have to get up.

Quickly, he made his way into the closed game shop and to the door. After unlocking it, he opened it up and was surprised to see who was standing at the door.

"L-Lyla," Atem said, trying to recover from his shock. "What are you doing here?"

Lyla looked a bit nervous as the sun was sinking behind her. "You told me to come over yesterday for an explanation." She answered, also a bit confused. ""Remember?" She buried her hands into her jean's pocket as a sign that she was nervous.

Yesterday's event's entered his mind as he nodded, "Oh, right. I totally forgot." He admitted a little sheepishly. He opened the door a bit wider and stepped aside to let her in. When she was in, he closed the door behind her and they stood there for a moment.

"I was just on my way up to my room," he continued and glanced at her, "to do some homework. I can explain things there. Come on," He started to make his way back towards the house.

Lyla didn't move at first, relieved that the room was dark so Atem didn't see her reddening face and her cheeks starting to feel hot. '_Going __to __his __room?__' _Her mind squeaked.

Atem looked over his shoulder when he realized he was the only one moving. "Are you alright?" He asked, concern showing on his face. He paused when he reached the counter and turned to face her.

"Oh, no, everything's alright." Lyla coughed to clear her throat, trying to get over the fact that a boy invited her to his room. '_Stop __acting __like __a __middle __schooler, __Lyla!__' _She pepped talk herself and started to walk after him. '_You __know __he __isn__'__t __like __that.__'_ When she reached him, she was relieved that her face didn't feel hot anymore, meaning her face went back to normal.

He nodded and they exited the game shop and entered the house part. Lyla slipped her shoes off (Atem wasn't wearing any shoes, he took them off earlier) and followed Atem a little ways down the hall where they met up with the stairs. Atem picked his bag up and swung it over one shoulder and was about to start walking up the stairs when a voice stopped him.

"Who was at the door?" Grandpa asked and walked into the living room where you have a great view of the stairs.

Atem paused and looked over, "Oh, Jii-chan. This is mine and Yugi's friend, Lyla." He said, introducing her. "And Lyla," he turned to her, "this is my grandfather."

Lyla looked over and slightly bowed, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Mutou." She politely said.

Grandpa waved the bow away with his hand, "The pleasure's all mine, Miss Lyla. And please, call me Grandpa. That's what all of Atem's and Yugi's friends call me." He chuckled, remembering how Joey immediately called him Gramps on their first meeting.

Lyla smiled and nodded her head.

"We'll be upstairs if you need us, Jii-chan," Atem said and nodded his head to Lyla to follow him.

As the two teenagers went upstairs, Grandpa raised an eyebrow but said nothing as he softly rolled his eyes and laughed. He went back into the kitchen.

At the top of the stairs, Atem walked past the bathroom and the first room whose door remained closed and went over to his room. Lyla followed and looked around curiously.

"Is that Yugi's room?" She asked and gestured to the room with the closed door. She just had a feeling that it was.

Without even looking, Atem nodded his head. When he entered his room, he flipped the light switch on and went straight over to his desk to drop his book bag off. "You can sit anywhere," he said to his female friend.

Lyla nodded her thanks and entered the room, looking around with a curious expression. The walls were covered with a few posters, all of them having to do with duel monsters, which wasn't a surprise. She smiled and walked over to the bed where she sat down.

Atem took his desk chair and turned it to face her. He sat down backwards in the chair so he could rest his arms on the back. "Where to begin?" He muttered when they were both situated.

Lyla brought her legs up onto the bed so she could sit with her legs crossed. She sort of leaned forward a bit, knowing whatever Atem was about to tell her, it was going to be long. "How about you start from the beginning?" She answered, not knowing if that question was intended for her or not. "Do you know where Yugi is?"

Atem nodded his head and told her, though he didn't look to happy about it, "If I remember correctly, Yugi is somewhere in the United States. Texas, to be exact. I am not positive on the exact location, but he is in that state; a different country."

"Why is he there?" Lyla asked, confused. "Is it some sort of school field trip or something?"

He shook his head. "I wish it was, but it isn't. Yugi's father came and took him and our mother with him." He explained.

"Yugi's... father?"

Atem looked her straight in the eyes and began to tell the whole story that only occurred a few days ago. "Just a day or two before you came over to hang out, Yugi's father had arrived here, and mind you, this was Yugi's first time ever seeing his father."

"Ever?"

"Yes. Yugi's mom and father had a bad fight while Yugi was still in the womb and the matter never got any better after he was born. To make matters worse, they had another fight a week after Yugi was born. Jii-chan and our mother had told him to leave them and to never return. So, he never did." He looked away, to his wall where his eyes lingered on his Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl poster. His thoughts immediately went to his old friends, Mahad and Mana and how they were the ones to always help him out when he needed it. "So Yugi grew up not having a father or knowing anything about him."

Lyla nodded and let him continue, not wanting to interrupt him.

He explained how Yugi's father, Chokichi as she had learned it, had started off as a good guy and told Yugi that he and Yugi's mom was going to move with him. Yugi had disagreed with that and ignored his father. Then things turned for the worse. Atem didn't go into very much detail about what all occurred, but she guessed Yugi's father had done something bad.

"He took Yugi and our mom back with him yesterday, just a few hours earlier than what the time is now." He said, coming to a closure. "Luckily, I know that he is still alive; he called me earlier today while we were at school. He didn't say much..."

"Were... were you able to tell him about... Iggi?" She asked gently, remembering how Atem had came to the vet with the beagle in his arms just yesterday. For someone to be in a whole different country and not know anything of the outcome of his dog, could just tear someone apart.

He shook his head, "He did ask about him... But before I could explain what happened, Chokichi took the phone away and told me that Yugi wasn't allowed to use the phone." He gripped the chair out of frustration without even realizing it.

Lyla nodded and bit her cheek. It was going to kill Yugi to discover what happened to his dog. "Have you tried to e-mail him yet?" She asked. Just by simply glancing at her friend, she could tell how much he was aching for his brother and how much he wanted to ring Chokichi's neck from taking him away.

"I was going to try tomorrow when I get to school. But, I don't really know what to say to him." He admitted and released his grip on his chair and looked down at the carpet. He rested his cheek on the back of the chair in defeat. "I think about what he wrote in the letter about how he was going to see this out to the end. And that's what always stops me from thinking about anything."

Lyla frowned, "What do you mean?" She asked, a bit confused.

He sighed, "What am I supposed to do, Lyla?" He asked without explaining himself and meets her green eyes. He ignored the fact that he had only known her for a couple of months and felt so comfortable around her. He normally wouldn't ask people for help unless it was one of his good friends or someone he could trust. But, Lyla _was _someone he could trust. "I'm having this inner war inside my head and I am so confused."

"Why are you confused for?" She asked gently, wanting to help, but not knowing how. The desperation in his voice was almost scaring her, but not as much as the confusion that was there.

"Half of my mind keeps telling me to get on a plane and go find Yugi but then the other is disagreeing." He said without hesitation. "That half of the mind is sticking to what Yugi's letter said. He told me to not go after him because he needed to see this to the end. He feels like it's his fault, even though it's not."

Lyla nodded and still using a gently tone, she asked, "Do you have the letter with you?" Without even responding to her question, Atem took his wallet out from his back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He handed it to her and she opened it up and started to read it quietly to herself.

After a minute or two, she looked up and nodded her head, understand a little more. "To be honest, there isn't much you _can __do,"_ she said and he looked at her with a frown. Quickly, she explained so he wouldn't jump to conclusions, "To me, it sounds like he wants to be there, to understand what is going on. He wants to fix this by himself because this is his real father. If he had help from someone else, like he said in the note," she glanced down and recited a sentence from the note, "'If _you __do __come __after __me __and __every thing __turns __right __again, __I __wouldn't __learn __anything.' _He's looking at this like there's a hidden message he needs to solve. Does that make any sense?" She glanced back up.

"Kind of..." He admitted and rubbed his left temple, feeling a head-ache form. "I understand what you're trying to get at, I do, but my mind doesn't want to listen. It keeps telling me to go after him. That's what I want to know; what am I supposed to do about that?"

"The exact opposite." Lyla said. "Your mind is telling you that because you spent three, almost four years with him, never really leaving his side. Your mind is having this battle because you aren't near him to protect him like you have always been there to do." She scooted forward on the bed until her feet touched down on the soft carpet. She leaned forward and grabbed his free hand with hers. Atem watched her as she said, "You want to help him, I know you do, but you have to leave this one battle up to Yugi; he needs to fight this one alone." She squeezed his hand.

Atem felt mixed emotions on what she had told him. What she said made sense. He had spent nearly four years protecting his partner from all sorts of things. He was always there for him. Maybe she was right and his brain was thinking this was just another one of those battles where he was supposed to help when, in reality, it wasn't. He was supposed to sit this one out and see if his brother could manage it. But what happens if he couldn't? What would the price be if Yugi failed?

Reading him like an open book, Lyla squeezed his hand once more, "Yugi will win this one, I can promise you that."

"How?" He asked, grateful that his voice didn't crack or break. His emotions were all jumbled up, he didn't know what to feel, but thankfully, his voice remained calm and strong, even if it was soft. Just like how he used to handle things back in Egypt, even if that was thousands of years ago.

"Do you really doubt you brother?" She asked, raising an eyebrow and leaning back. "Do you not think he can take care of himself?"

"What? No!" Atem sat up straight, startled by her question. "I think Yugi will do whatever it takes to come back home. I have faith in him." He said, realizing that what he had just said was the absolute truth.

Lyla smiled, "Then start thinking that." He looked at her a bit confused so she explained, "Tell you mind over and over again that Yugi can do this without your help that he will succeed whatever he is there to do. Keep telling yourself that and maybe your mind will listen. It feels like your heart understands things better than your mind. Listen to your heart, Atem, because what it's telling me, is that it's right."

Slowly, all the confusion washed away from the no longer pharaoh's face and replacing it was a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "You... you kind of sounded like Yugi there, for a minute." He said and his facial expressions softened just a little.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Lyla grinned.

He softly laughed. He rubbed his eye for a minute before looking at her, "Thank you, Lyla." He said.

"No problem, that's what I'm here for." She said. "And," she added, bringing his attention back to hers, "Just because you have to sit this one out, doesn't mean he that won't need you anymore. I know for a fact that Yugi will really need you after this whole thing is done." She stood up from the bed and watched her friend get to his feet also, moving his chair back to the desk.

Just as Atem was opening his mouth to say something, he was cut off by grandpa's muffled voice, "Atem, Lylal; pizza's here!"

Atem turned to Lyla whose attention was at the door, "Would you like to stay for dinner?" He politely asked hoping that she would say yes.

She returned her gaze back to him and smiled. With a shake of her head, she said, "Oh, no, I don't want to be a bother."

"Really, it's no bother." Atem said, trying to convince her as he gave her a smile.

"No, really, it's fine. I wasn't even supposed to come until after dinner, but I was just really curious on what had been going on." She had to advert her gaze away from his crimson ones, feeling a light blush creep onto her face. He really did have pretty eyes.

Atem smiled, noticing her reaction as he took her hand and lead her out of his room. "You're staying for dinner." He decided for her. "It's the least I can do for you for helping me." He said as he flipped the light switch off in his room and walked through the hallway to the stairs.

"I... I don't know." Lyla said, feeling her heart beat race inside her chest like a shy, middle school girl who was being noticed by the hottest boy in school. She was still being dragged by her hand, but she wasn't doing anything about it. "My mom might have dinner cooking... at home..."

He looked over her shoulder, noticing how she was reacting. He chuckled, "I don't think she would mind. And if she does, I'll just explain to her that I needed some help." He winked at her, causing her to blush even more.

'_Why __is __it __so __much __harder __to __talk __to __him __now?' _She thought to herself, feeling lost for words. Her face felt hot and her heart gave a little leap at the contact. '_I __didn't __even __act __like __this __when __I __hung __out __with __them __over __the __weekend...'_

It turned out, Lyla did stay for supper and she had a good time. She noticed a great change in Atem, so did grandpa, how he wasn't so depressed and quiet. He was half the reason why there was a conversation going on at the table. And through it all, Lyla felt relaxed. Thankfully, when they had reached the kitchen, her face had returned back to its original tanned (ish) color and she didn't feel like that middle school girl anymore. Being here, at the table, she felt like she was at home.

Once dinner was done, Lyla had announced that she had to go home since it was a school night.

"Do you need me to drop you off at home?" Grandpa asked, once the remaining pizza was in the fridge and the dishes were washed. He was driving his hands off with one of the dish towels as he added, "It won't be a problem."

Lyla smiled, "No thank you. I was going to run home since I've been trying to get back into shape for track." She said. "It's not that far, really, and there's still light out," she added when she received a frown from Atem.

"Well, I'll still walk you out," Atem said.

She rolled her eyes in a playful manner and turned to grandpa, "Thank you for the meal, Mr. Mu-, I mean, Gramps." She corrected herself with a smile.

Grandpa rolled his eyes, guessing that Lyla had been around Joey once before or to many times. But he smiled, "You're most certainly welcome, my dear. Come back anytime."

Lyla nodded her head as Atem walked her out of the kitchen and to the door. When she slipped her shoes on and they entered the game shop, Atem said, "I can tell he likes you."

"And who doesn't?" She joked but then added, "That, I'm glad. It's kind of weird how I've been friends with you and Yugi for so long, that this is the first time I've met your grandfather."

They reached the door as Atem shrugged, "It is weird." They lingered there for a moment, feeling a bit awkward.

"Well... Thanks for everything," Lyla said, meaning the meal and the explanation.

"Thank you for listening and helping out."

"Anytime," she smiled.

As she opened the door, Atem quickly stalled, "Really, come back soon. It was nice... having you here." This time, it was his turn to feel a bit nervous and feel his face heat up again.

Lyla noticed from the light the lamp post gave off from outside. "I will, don't worry." And then she did something totally unexpected. She leaned forward and pecked Atem's cheek quickly before turning around and start off at a fast jog in the direction of her house. "See you later, Atem!" She called over her shoulder.

Atem felt dumbfounded as he stood in the doorway, a hand on his cheek as he stared after her. Then, he slowly smiled and once she was out of sight, he closed the door and locked it, whispering softly to himself, "See you soon, Lyla."

Feeling great, he walked back to the house, not really confused anymore. What Lyla had told him about Yugi, he finally understood. He just needed to keep going and just wait for his brother to come back on his own, to have faith in him. It was time for Yugi to do this on his own, just like he wanted.

"Like Lyla," he whispered to himself as he entered the house and started to walk up the stairs to go start his homework, "I'll be seeing Yugi soon, too. I'll be worried as hell, but, I will listen to my heart and believe he'll come home safely."

XxxxX

Till next time! ^^

Lisa: The ending was a bit corny...

Yeah, and? Hope you enjoyed this chapter! :) It was a bit fun to write. I'm not all that great with explaining things, but I hope Lyla's and Atem's conversation made sense. See y'all laters!


	23. Getting Ready For First Day of School

Lisa: I'll be speaking in for Kairi… she's off doing whatever hikari's do best… Anyways, for my short announcement, this chapter is _short_, I know. It's just a filler chapter. Kairi thought that if she didn't have this chapter up, then the story would be missing something, even though this chapter has no importance. It's just something fun to read. And it's basically all you've already read before… So… Enjoy, I guess.

**Disclaimer:I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Just my own characters!**

**Chapter Twenty-One:**

**Yugi's POV:**

When Yugi had gotten home ten minutes later, nothing had changed; he had found his mom watching another TV show called NCIS on the couch while cuddled up in a red blanket.

"Hey, mom." He answered as he quietly closed the door behind him and locked it. He slipped his shoes off and picked them up, needing to place them in his room so his father didn't get suspicious if he saw them by the door.

Miyuki looked up, a sigh of relief escaping her lips before she stood up and embraced her son. "Thank Ra you made it home. I was getting worried; wondering how long you were going to be out for."

Yugi hugged her back. When they pulled apart, he looked at the clock on the wall and said, "I've only been gone for an hour." He turned back to her.

"I know," she simply said, "But what happens if your father came home while you were gone or if he came home now? Any longer and something would have happened." She didn't want to admit it, but while her son was gone, someone had called for Chokichi with something important and she ended up calling her husband –finding his number on the fridge- and telling him.

_Mini Flashback:_

"_Did he say anything else?" Chokichi asked on his side of the phone._

_Miyuki shook her head, even though he couldn't see her. "No, that's all he said. He just wanted you to call him back and to get everything ready for a… online conference?" She didn't question it, knowing that she wouldn't understand and that she could really care less._

_There was a small grunt on the other line and some words, but she couldn't make them out; they were too quiet. _

_After a couple of seconds without saying anything, Chokichi asked, "What are you and Yugi doing?" _

_Miyuki __paused, __her __heart __beating __a __bit __faster. __Her __eyes __flickered __over __to __the __door __where __her __son __had __just __departed __twenty __minutes __ago.__ '_Quick, make up some lie.'_ "__Just __watching __TV,__" __she __said __as __casually __as __she __could. __Thankfully, __her __voice __didn__'__t __crack __or __betray __her __in __any __way._

"_And Yugi?" He asked, "What is he doing?"_

"_He… he fell asleep on the couch twenty minutes ago, just after you left." She lied, making a face at herself. _

_There was a pause on the other end, causing Miyuki's heart beat to speed up just a bit. "Really?" He asked, not buying it at all. "Let me speak with him."_

"_What? __No,__" __Miyuki __answered __him, __feeling __a __bit __defensive. __Her __nervousness __left __her __and __she __reacted __just __like __how __she __normally __would,__ "__He__'__s __asleep, __for __Pete__'__s __sake.__I __'__m __not __going __to __wake __him __up __just __so __you __can __tell __him __nonsense. __If __you __hadn__'__t __taken __us __to __a __whole __new __different __country, __he __probably __wouldn__'__t __be __a sleep __and _then _you __could __talk __to __him. __But __I __am __not __waking __him __up.__" __She__said._

_Chokichi __smirked __and __it __showed __when __he __spoke,__ "__He __better __be __there __and __this __better __not __be __some __kind __of __lie, __Miyuki.__" __Then __he __hung __up __the __phone __without __coming __to __a __closure, __leaving __Miyuki __to __firmly __punch __the _End _button._

"_Oh, I really do not like him…" She said to herself before walking over to the couch. As she sat down, her anger slowly left and in its place was her nerves. She flickered her eyes over to the door, hoping that what her husband said didn't mean he was coming home now. "Oh, please hurry up, Yugi." She whispered._

End of that small Flashback:

Yugi nodded, understanding what his mother was getting at, "I know. But it wouldn't have been my fault if Bakura had told me where to meet him at." He sort of pouted. "And anyways, dad didn't come, did he?" He had a look of panic in his eyes.

"No, he didn't." Miyuki answered him with a smile.

He nodded and the panic left, leaving a sense of exhaustion. "Well, I'm going to put my shoes in my room and then look for some kind of game to play. Dad did say there were cards in the closet, right?" His mom nodded and he smiled. "It's been a while since I've played card games." He left to go do what he said, leaving Miyuki to playfully roll her eyes and sit back down on the couch.

About ten minutes later, Yugi found the deck of cards and started to play multiple games on the living room floor that only involved one person like Clock Solitary, regular Solitary, and others. Miyuki would occasionally look down at her son and smile a bit sadly, being reminded of how her little boy always used to play by himself when he was younger. But, then she's smile when she remembered Joey and everyone else.

Without even realizing, a couple of hours had passed by. Yugi had been so engrossed in his games, he never realized the door being unlocked and opened. Miyuki was asleep on the couch, having been like that for an hour and a half.

"Get ready, we're going to be leaving in ten minutes," Was Chokichi's greeting when he closed the door behind him.

Yugi jumped a bit, almost scattering his game of Baker's Dozen (1). He got up from his stomach and sat down with his legs crossed. He quickly gathered his cards.

Chokichi sat his bag down near the couch, waking Miyuki up. She blinked and when she noticed her husband, quickly sat up and stifled a yawn.

"Did you just get back?" She asked and gathered the blanket that she was curled up in. She started to fold it.

"Yes. As I told your son, get ready, we'll be leaving in ten minutes to go to the store." He said, unpleasantly. He had a long day at work and his patience was running low. He left the living room to go to his room to freshen up.

Miyuki, noticing his mood, looked to her son who just shrugged and she placed the blanket on the back of the couch, exactly where she had found it. Yugi held the cards in his hand after he had gathered them and walked into his own room to deposit them on his dresser before getting his shoes. Before he left, he looked at himself in the mirror, making sure he looked alright.

Once back in the living room, he was alone since his mother went to go change into something more decent and his father went to go do whatever. He sat down on the couch and waited.

_'I __wonder __if __we're __going __to __that __store...__Heb?'_ He wondered, remember passing by a couple on his way here from the airport. He slipped his shoes on and tied the laces up. _'I __wonder __how __much __different __American __stores __are __from __Japan.'_

He didn't have to wait long for his mother to show up in jeans and a nice shirt. She had brushed her hair up into a pony tail and put on a little make-up. She looked over to her son and smiled before sitting next to him and slipping her flats on.

"You two ready?" Chokichi asked as he entered the room, looking no different than when he had left.

Miyuki looked to her son before saying, "I guess…" They both stood up and off they all went to the store of wonders.

XxxxX

"Alright, we're here to get food and whatever else you two need." Chokichi said as the entered the store a couple of minutes later. He might as well have been talking to himself because his son wasn't paying attention as he was gawking around at the store and his wife was gazing at some of the clothes that were displayed in the front.

He snapped his fingers in an impatient way, getting their attentions back, "Hey, pay attention."

Yugi frowned and looked away from a sign towards the back of the store that read 'Games' to his father. "I heard you; go get whatever you need." He looked away, wondering how on earth he was going to find the supplies he needed in this big store.

Miyuki nodded and looked away, knowing what she was going to need to find, but, like her son, she didn't have a clue where to find it at.

Ignoring their confused faces, Chokichi nodded and said, "Just explore the store and you'll eventually find everything you need. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be in the produce section." And he left the two at the entrance to get a basket and go to where he said he was going to be.

"Well, this beats being stuck at the house, hm?" Miyuki nervously asked as she and her son started to walk around the store, looking for certain things.

Yugi nodded, "I just can't believe this store is so big…" He still couldn't help but stare around him. "Stores back in Japan are half this size!"

For the next twenty minutes, the two finally found what they were looking for; hair products and a few girly things. Though, it took some time trying to figure out which one of the products to get since they were all foreign.

"Now it's time to find your father…" Miyuki said, biting her lip. With her items in her hands, she walked down the aisle to the beginning and looked around. Yugi followed right behind her, holding body soap, a bottle of two-in-one shampoo for men and a container of hair-gel.

"He said he was going to be in the produce section," Yugi recalled. "And I remembered seeing the sign that way." He pointed with a finger towards the left side of the store.

Miyuki nodded and together, they made their way in the direction Yugi had pointed out.

Not even making it halfway through to the produce section, the two encounter the person they were looking for. He already had a basket a third full and was in the school supplies section of the store. When he saw them come up to him, he had placed two one-subject spirals into the basket along with a bag of pencils and pens. Among those items, a lot of fruit and vegetables and a few other snack items were in the cart.

"Find everything you need? I don't want to have to make another trip here." Chokichi asked. He looked at the items in his wife's and child's hands before nodding to them to place their belongings into the basket.

"I think so." Miyuki answered.

"So, what doesn't Heb sell?" Yugi asked, curious. From all that he had seen so far, he was thinking this store sold everything.

Chokichi frowned, "Heb? What is Heb?"

"The store… we're in?" Yugi cautiously asked, feeling like he said something wrong.

"It's called H-E-B. We pronounce the letters since they have hyphens in between them." Chokichi explained, slightly amused though he didn't show it.

"Oh… Opps." Yugi looked away, feeling dumb. He should have known that… he's been taking English for as long as he could remember.

"Well, I'm done shopping." Chokichi said, he looked into the basket and mentally checked off the food they needed like canned goods, healthy foods, and others. "And if that's everything, then it's time to check-out and get home." Miyuki nodded in agreement and Yugi just bobbed his head up and down.

Checking out took no longer than a couple of minutes since no one was there when they got there. They checked out and packed the bags into the car and had set off back home. The ride home was short, five minutes maximum and soon enough, they were carrying the bags into the house.

"Take what's yours and put them in your room then come back." Chokichi ordered as he started to unpack the groceries.

Yugi nodded his head and grabbed his things and placed them in his room. He was relief that he could take a shower. A shower before bed would help him fall asleep easier; it always did in the past.

When he placed his things in his room, he walked back to the kitchen and helped unpack the rest of the things. He didn't know where they went, so he just unpacked the stuff.

"So what are we going to be eating for dinner?" Miyuki asked, curious.

"I was thinking about leftovers for now," Chokichi replied as he stocked some boxes of Macaroni and Cheese in and Hamburger Helper in the pantry. "We had a lot left from lunch." His voice was a bit muffled since he was in the other room.

Miyuki grabbed a few cans of soup and walked after him, nodding her head. She wouldn't say it, but this was exactly how Chokichi acted when they were dating and when they got married. He was nice and calm, just like how he was now. She almost smiled.

"Sounds good." She said.

XxxxX

A few hours later, Yugi was fresh and clean. He had taken a shower once dinner and the dishes were done and now, he was lying on his bed with the lights off.

During dinner, his father had told him things he needed to know for school the next day, especially needing to go to bed early.

He had told him that he would take him to school and that he would leave the house no later than eight, even though he was supposed to be at work a lot earlier than that. He also said that Yugi's school schedule had been made and all of his work and grades should have been transferred over to the school, if not, then by next week they would be in. That made Yugi a little mad, but he said nothing of it. The last thing he told him was the same thing he had told him and his mom earlier in the day; can't use the computer or phone. If he did, Chokichi would know and there would be consequences. This time, Chokichi explained how he would know. He had a friend that worked in the office and always kept tabs on where the calls were going.

"It wasn't even like I was going to call Atem…" Yugi grumbled to himself, slightly annoyed. He stared up at the dark ceiling of his room. "That would be long distance and they would defiantly find out." If he was going to make a call, especially to someone that far, he would do it on a pay phone, or his own or someone he really trusts (because that would be a lot of money).

He rolled to his side and his eyes caught sight of his alarm clock that was turned on for seven-fifteen am. It was a little after ten now, and he was just beginning to get sleepy. "I just hope I don't fall asleep tomorrow…" He said to himself.

Yugi let out a sad breath as his eyes were downcast. Back at home, it had taken fifteen years to make a friend –minus Tea since she didn't really hang out with him- like the ones he had now. But, how long would it take to make a friend here?

"I really shouldn't try to make friends since I won't be staying for that long." He closed his eyes, wishing he had someone to talk to that wasn't his mom or father. He was longing to talk with Atem, like they always did when the pharaoh had been trapped in the Millennium Puzzle and they shared a body. That was what he was longing for, because then he wouldn't be alone with just his own thoughts.

After a few minutes, Yugi started to feel himself nod off to sleep. But before he let the feeling take over, he wondered to himself, just how long was he really going to stay here. He had the power to leave whenever he wanted too, yet, he hasn't done it yet. (Chokichi never mentioned if he knew whether or not Yugi had left the house.) Was he going to leave right after he discovers why his father wanted him here? Or was he going to wait and try to fix things that he suspected was wrong? (The reason why Chokichi had brought him here). Just how long was he going to continue living here away from his friends and family?

XxxxX

Lisa: Until next week! Yeah, it's sort of a cliffy…. But Kairi didn't know what else to write. If things get confusing for you, please, let us know. We'll change things to make it easier to follow and we'll also explain it for you.

Lisa: One more thing Kairi wanted to mention, she made a blog where she (and I... sometimes...) talk about our stories. The blog is to help not only us but y'all too. We'll talk about the chapter we're currently working on, if there's a problem, or really anything to do with stories. (Sounds boring, huh? But trust me, it's helpful) If you were curious, the link is on our profile. Just go give it a look if you want, you never know, it might help!

Lisa: And so you know, we're kind of exaggerating about the H-E-B part since we don't really know how big the stores are in Japan. H-E-B is only a Texas store, if you were wondering, can't find them anywhere else. And trust me, they are pretty big. First time being in one, I got lost…. Not fun… Well, see y'all laters!

1-I honestly don't know what this game is, I just looked up one-player card games and this one sounded interesting.


	24. A New School Means New Friends Too

Happy Thanksgiving! Even though it's a couple of days late... I can never get anything on time. . But, blame Lisa's cat.

Lisa: My cat? Since when is he my cat?

Since I bought my own! ^^ You can keep Zorc while I keep Pharaoh. (He's all black, and I really wanted to call him Zorc, but my sister was like Blah so I suggested her Pharaoh, and she liked that one better. .)

Lisa: That's disrespect man. Disrespect to the car.

Zorc: Meow?

Lisa: It's alright, honey. Momma's here for you.

*Rolls eyes*

Lisa: And what makes you think I'll keep him?

Because you can have a new partner in crime. Wait... did I just say that?

Lisa: Yes, yes you did. :) Come Zorc, let me go get my fellow yami's and go do crime! *vanishes with kitten*

Oh crap... What did I just get myself into... Enjoy guys. It's sort of long.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Just my own characters!

Chapter Twenty-Two:

Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep

Groggily, his hand moved from the safety of the covers to the bed-side table and started to blindly look for the annoying alarm clock to turn it off. It took several attempts to find the stupid thing and once he did, many times to try and turn it off. When the noise finally shut off, he rolled over to his back and opened his eyes.

Sleepy amethyst colored eyes stared up at the ceiling as they tried the blink the sleep out of them. Without even knowing it, Yugi had started to become use to the time change, even though this was only the second day. No longer did he feel dead tired, he just felt zombie tired, but not too much.

"I don't wanna go to school," he softly whined to himself and rolled over to bury his face into his pillow. He closed his eyes, wanting ever so much to go back to sleep, but he couldn't. If he tried, he would only cause himself to get a bad head-ache. Once he woke up in the mornings, it usually took an hour or two to officially fall back asleep, and even then, he would be in a constant state of waking himself up.

A loud knock on his bedroom door caused him to lift his head up off of his pillow.

"Hurry up and get ready for school; we leave in thirty minutes." A grumpy voice sounded on the other side.

Yugi stared at the door for a minute, thinking of what his father had told him last night at dinner.

_Mini Flashback:_

_"You probably already know, but schools in America and schools in Japan are totally different," Chokichi said over dinner. His tone was casual and didn't hold any sarcasm or rudeness to it. Which was a bit weird. Yugi nodded as he took a small bite of his orange chicken. "The school you will be going to requires no uniform; you wear whatever you want, as long as it is in dress code. The student handbook is on the counter if you were wondering what the dress code was like."_

_Miyuki nodded her head even though her husband wasn't talking to her. She was getting curious about the handbook and started to wonder how much different both schools were._

_"School starts at nine-oh-five am and ends at four-ten pm." He continued on. "I will drop you off at school tomorrow morning, but you'll have to walk to and from school the rest of the time. I can only take off one day to come in late, and I will only be doing so, so that you know where you'll be going. Is that understood?"_

_Yugi nodded his head without looking up. He really didn't like being treated like a little boy…_

_"I will be leaving the house exactly at eight, so be ready before that. Your schedule has already been made for you so when you get to the school, go straight to the office. I'm sure you can find that." He ignored the teen's reaction by the second part of the news he had just given and said, "I have already bought you some school supplies; two spirals and pens and pencils. Don't use any of the phones or computers there-,"_

_"What do you mean my schedule had already been made?" Yugi interrupted him, slightly glaring. "I haven't even seen what sort of choices there are. And I know for a fact that the student gets to choose them." If he was going to live in a whole different country and go to school here for the time being, he might as well get to choose his classes._

_Chokichi sort of glared at his son from being interrupted and said in a slightly clenched voice, "Do not interrupt me, runt."_

_Yugi glared but kept his mouth shut this time. Miyuki sent a nervous look towards her son as if she could predict something bad was about to happen._

_"To answer you though," the man of the house said, "I created your schedule. Don't like it, tough luck." He went into some other details about the use of the computers and phones, though Yugi barely paid any attention._

_End of Flashback:_

Having dressed himself in dark jeans and a royal blue t-shirt, Yugi combed his hair to ensure no tangles were there and so that his hair came to a point. He pulled on a fresh pair of socks and looked over towards his door to make sure his shoes were still there. They were so he walked over to his door and grabbed them on his way out.

As always, he wasn't paying attention to where he was walking and soon bumped into someone.

"S-sorry," Yugi quickly apologized out of habit and looked up.

"Watch it," Chokichi growled and sent his son a tired glare. He brushed past him and turned the corner, soon out of sight.

Yugi stuck out his tongue at his father. "I can tell you're not a morning person…" He whispered to himself. He was still a bit angry from last night about his father already having his schedule made. He looked away from where his father disappeared to and went straight to the bathroom that was right across from his bedroom.

XxxxX

Once refreshed, Yugi made his way to the kitchen to grab something to eat. Even though he wasn't hungry, he knew it would help a little to get rid of the nerves that formed inside his stomach.

In the kitchen, Chokichi already had the coffee maker going and was readying a lunch for himself. He ignored his son when he walked in.

Yugi went straight to the fridge and glanced through the big cold box. There were fruit, yogurt, a lot of vegetables, lunch meat, and a whole bunch of other healthy, and some unhealthy, foods in the fridge. After a minute of deciding, he grabbed the carton of orange juice and a yogurt and brought them to the island in the middle of the kitchen. Finding a cup in the cabinet and a spoon in the draw, he poured himself a small glass before placing the carton back into the fridge and went to the table to eat.

He ate in silence and had to force the dairy product down his throat or else he would just spite it back up.

When the coffee was done a few minutes later, Chokichi poured himself some into a mug and leaned against the counter, watching his son as he sipped his drink. That didn't last long as Yugi perked his head up, feeling eyes on him. The father glanced away.

_'I should ask him why he brought us here...'_ Yugi thought as he easily took a sip of his juice. He looked back down at his yogurt that was half gone now. _'Then, start planning some sort of escape route.'_ He took another bite.

"So you know," Chokichi cleared his throat, bringing his son's attention to him, "You will bring a lunch from home. Otherwise, go hungry at school. I already did enough for you getting started at this school, I don't need to also pay for your lunch."

Yugi shrugged, not really caring. "Alright, fine by me." Then he thought to himself, _'The less you pay for me, the better. I don't want to leave here with a guilty conscious.'_

The next ten minutes, Yugi had brushed his teeth, slipped his conver shoes on, and grabbed a spiral and pen and was ready. He was seated on the couch, staring down at the carpet, waiting on his father. He really did not want to go to school, but what his father had said the other day made sense. If he didn't go to school, he'd fall behind and if he ever did make it back home, it would be hell to make up.

_'Best thing about it... I won't be staying here too long.'_ He thought again. He never let himself think otherwise, knowing that if he did, then something bad would happen and cause him to stay even longer than necessary.

"You ready?" Chokichi asked as he walked into the room. He was adjusting his tie around his neck and headed over to the table where he had left his brief case.

Yugi stood up and nodded. He glanced over to the hallway, wondering if his mom even knew he was leaving now. Knowing that she wasn't, he tried to brush it off. He was almost eighteen, he didn't need his mother to see him off going to school. Though, deep inside him, he wish she was.

He looked back to the door and tried to shake the feeling away.

The two men made their way towards the door to leave when Miyuki suddenly rushed out of the hallway, tying her robe around her frame. "Yugi," She said, stopping both of them. Her son turned around, surprise etched on his face but he smiled. She walked over to him and pulled him into a hug. "Have a good day at school and I will want to know everything that happens when you get back." She whispered and hugged him real tight.

Yugi nodded and hugged her back, happy that she did appear, and just in time too. "I will."

"Can we leave now?" Chokichi broke the two apart and shook his head impatiently. Without saying anything else, he made his way back to the door.

"Have fun being here and don't miss me too much," Yugi sarcastically said and hugged her once more before following his father out the door.

Miyuki rolled her eyes but watched her son leave the house. Once the door was closed and locked, she hugged herself and turned around, headed back to her room. She let a yawn escape her lips, thankful that she didn't have to go to school anymore.

XxxxX

Yugi took the front seat in the car and looked out the window as his father put the car in drive and backed out of the driveway. The radio was on to a country station, but it's volume was on low. He waited until his father placed his new cup of coffee in the cup holder before turning to him and finally asking, "So really, why did you bring me and my mom here?" He asked, thinking this was the perfect time.

Chokichi didn't even look at his son as they drove down the street and turned right onto one of the major roads called Matrix. He glanced in his rear view mirror and said, "Why do you want to know?" He asked with ease.

"I have a right to know." Yugi shot back.

"Oh do you now?" He grabbed his coffee and took a quick sip before placing it back down. From the corner of his eye, he noticed his son nod his head. "When I'm ready, I'll tell you."

They came to a stoplight that just turned red and were behind a green truck. Yugi paid no attention to it as he said, "How 'bout you just tell me now and save yourself time. You said that you would tell us when we got here. What's so important that you had to kidnap us? Why go through all of this trouble?"

"You don't understand." He said as annoyance started to lace in with his words. "And when I am ready, I'll tell you. What I had said earlier, I was lying to you so I could get you to cooperate. Going through all of this trouble, will be worth it in the end." The light turned green and they were off.

"What will be worth it?" That sparked a bit of curiosity in the teenager.

"Nothing. Now just shut up with all of these annoying questions."

Yugi frowned but didn't back down. "They're not stupid questions. I have a right to know."

"Why?" Chokichi took a second to look over at his son with a amused look, "So you can plan an escape plan?" Yugi tried not to show any emotion. "Yeah, you don't think I'm stupid, do you? I already know that you snuck out of the house yesterday to go meet up with some friend of yours." He looked back to the road and signed left to turn into the driveway of the school. "But, I'm being nice and will let this one slide. I know what it feels like to be a teenager and always being in a different place. My parents were divorced, so I had to keep switching homes."

Yugi stayed quiet, not sure how to respond. _'Crap... how did he find out?'_ He thought.

They turned and drove up to the drop off place, right in front of the building. Chokichi came to a stop and put the car in park. He turned to his son and said, "Later tonight, we will be discussing rules of what you can, and cannot do. But I expect you to be home one hour after school lets off; no later than that."

The teenager unbuckled his seat belt and grabbed his spiral and pen. He didn't make a lunch since he knew for a fact that he wasn't going to be hungry today. He nodded to his father and was starting to open his door when his father said more.

"You can plan all you want for escaping, but whatever you plan, it won't succeed." Yugi turned back and meet his father's cold, icy blue stare. He almost shuddered at contact. "Have a nice day at school."

XxxxX

The front of the school was beautiful from the large blue windows that covered the front entrance of the building. A lot of teenagers were either sitting outside or were walking around, usually in packs as they talked to their friends. Very little were there loners, but they looks like they were waiting on someone or didn't want to be bothered.

The whole school was maybe about as big as his last school which was about medium size. He knew for a fact, that if the school was this big on the out, then the inside was going to be even bigger and most likely confusing.

Yugi watched his father drive away before facing the school. He swallowed the lump in his throat and felt a little nervous. A few people who were passing by glanced at him but their eyes went up to his hair. Now feeling a bit self conscious, he began his walk towards the front doors of the school.

"Look at his hair," he heard a girl whisper a little too loudly. He ignored her, just like he always did whenever people talked about his hair. But, he was a bit surprised about what the girl said next, "I wish I had something similar to that. It's something unique and no one would forget me." She laughed with her friends.

Another person was talking normally when he asked his friends, "Doesn't he look familiar? I think I've seen that hair before."

He hide a small smile on his lips and walked up the few stairs to the doors. When he pulled them open and entered the building, he was stunned by the place.

From the outside, you could tell the place was a two story building, and on the inside, it confirmed it. Right when you walk into the door and glanced up, there was a little hallway/bridge looking thing without a wall covering it up. So you could stand on the bridge and watch people come and go from the building. He thought it was something neat. Right across the doors were what looked like the library. There were large windows right next to the doors and looking into them, he saw computers in the middle of the room and then a lot of chairs and books.

Looking to his right, Yugi noticed a door that was labeled 'Counselor's Office' and on the other side, to his left, was the 'Office'. Kind of confused on which one to go to, he stood kind of off to the right of the doors, looking back and forth, wondering which one to go to. Back home, you would go to the Counselor's office, but maybe here it was different.

"You look a little lost." A feminine voice called out to Yugi who jumped, a bit startled. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

Yugi turned around and was met by a pair of dazzling green eyes. "N-no, it's alright, I didn't see you coming." He said. "But yeah, I am a little lost; it's my first time here." He said a bit sheepishly.

The girl giggled lightly and nodded her head. She was a tall girl, not as tall as Tea, but still tall. She was slender with curves that showed against her V-neck blue shirt and jeans. Her light brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail but her bangs were in her eyes. She would flick her head and her bangs would move aside so she could see. "I'm Eilene." She introduced herself and held out her hand.

Yugi took her hand and smiled, "I'm Yugi."

"Nice to meet you, Yugi." Eilene smiled and her whole face lit up. She seemed like a very cheerful person. They took back their own hands as she said, "So, since it's your first time here, you are probably looking for your schedule, huh?" He nodded. "Alright, we'll you'll want to go to the Counselor's office." She pointed to the door on the right.

He looked to where she was pointing and nodded his head. "Alright, thank you so much." He looked back to her.

"No problem," Eilene answered back cheerfully. "Welcome to Breaksville High and I hope you find all of your classes. I hope we have a class or two together."

Yugi nodded and watched her leave before he made his way to go and get his schedule.

XxxxX

Walking into the office was almost like walking into the one back in Japan, minus everything being English in here and with different posters everywhere. There was a counter with staff working behind there, students in the chairs waiting and many doors that held the counselor's names above the door.

Giving his best guess, Yugi walked over to the counter and cleared his throat, catching one of the three ladies attention. When she walked over to him wearing a smile, he said, "Hi, my name is Yugi Mutou and I just moved here. I was wondering if you would tell me which counselor I am supposed to go see." He gave her a friendly smile.

The lady, Debbi Hart by her name tag, nodded her head and smiled a little bit more. "Hello, Mr. Mutou," she greeted him, "And, do you see that door, the farthest one to the right?" She pointed her index finger to the door she was talking about. "That is Mr. Williams. Just tell him what you told me and he should fix you right up."

Yugi nodded his head, "Thank you." He turned around and walked over to the door Debbi Hart was pointing too.

Once there, he stopped and knocked lightly on the closed door. A muffled, 'Come In' was heard so he opened the door and stepped into the bright room.

The room was about an average sized office room with the standard filing cabinets, desk, chair and computer. Along with those, was a book case filled with brochures, books, magazines and a whole lot of other things, and a whole lot of pictures covered the walls, whether they be college posters or pictures of people.

Sitting on the chair with his head hunched down over some papers, was a man. He looked to be in his mid thirties with light brown hair. He looked to be average with nothing interesting about him. He also wore glasses.

"Uh... Mr. Williams?" Yugi said, not wanting to scare the man.

Said name looked up and smiled. "Hello, can I help you?" He looked nice and sounded friendly.

Yugi walked in a little further and nodded his head. "Yes sir, my name is Yugi Mutou and I just moved here."

Mr. Williams eyes lit up, "Oh, yes, Mr. Mutou. I remember your father calling mejust a couple days ago. Please, have a seat," he said and gestured to one of the two chairs in front of his desk. Yugi took the a seat and waited. Mr. Williams twisted his chair so that he was now facing his computer and started to click some files open. "So, did you really live in Japan before moving here?"

Great, questions... Yugi thought but didn't falter his image. "Yes sir, I did."

"Really? So, if you don't mind me asking, why did you move here for? That's quite a big change, especially since this is your..." He glanced over to his computer when he brought up the right file, "your senior year." He raised an eyebrow.

"No, it's alright. But, I moved here for a few reasons, and if it is alright with you, I wish to not share it." He said, hoping that didn't come out to harsh. "But, I just moved here to be... with my father..." He tried not to clench his teeth at the lie. He needed to keep up an image, even though he could flat out tell this stranger all what his father had did and get him arrested for it. But, he didn't say anything; he couldn't, not just yet.

The counselor shook his head, "That's alright. I didn't mean to bug into your personal life."

For the next hour, the counselor talked to Yugi about his schedule, the school and where to find everything. He went into quite depth when it came to describing where his classes were and even brought out a map. He spent a couple of minutes explaining the days; A-day and B-day. He also explained that the seniors, and only the seniors were allowed to go off campus during our thirty minute lunch break and had to be back before the bell rung. He next explained the teen's schedule.

"You have the four main curriculum classes; math, science, history, and English. I've placed you in all AP classes because I heard from your father that you were in excelled classes back in your home country. Since you were in a whole different country, the US requires each and every student to take a class known as Geography. I noticed from researching that your school back in Japan didn't have that class, so I stuck that into your schedule, even if you only are going to be taking it for less than a semester." He said, showing the new student his schedule. "None of your school records has come in yet, so I didn't really know where to place you but your father gave me some ideas. I placed you into P.E. and gave you two off periods."

Yugi looked up from the paper that held his classes, a bit curious, "Off periods?" He asked.

Mr. William's smiled, "Yes, off periods. Only juniors and seniors are allowed to have them, though juniors can only have up to one off period while seniors up to two. They allow the student to have a class all to themselves, whether the student uses the class as a study hall, working at their job, or just going home and sleeping."

Just to be sure, he said the information he was just given out loud in easier terms to be sure he understood it, "So it's not really a class, you can just do whatever?"

"On the contrary. If you have an off period, you have to be either in the library or off campus. Really, the 'class', if you want to call it that, are called Off Campus, but the students just say off periods. You are not allowed to roam the hallways or visit teachers, unless you are staying for help. You are not allowed to linger and talk with your friends." He said. "Though, a lot of students do that anyways." He rolled his eyes but didn't sound mad or annoyed by it.

Yugi nodded just as a bell rung, scaring the teen. He looked around.

"Don't worry, that was the bell signaling the students to go to class. But, since you're new here, I was going to escort you to your first class." He stood up. "Shall we?"

Yugi grabbed his belongings -his spiral and pen, but that was in his pocket- and his new schedule before standing up.

XxxxX

"Students," Mr. Williams called attention to all of the seniors in the room to quiet down as he and Yugi stood in the front of a class room. All of the teenagers quieted down and looked to the front. Most of their eyes, however, were on Yugi who started to feel a bit self conscious again. "I would like to introduce you to a new student here." He gestured to Yugi. "This is Yugi Mutou and he just moved here from Japan. I hope that you will treat him with respect and show kindness towards him; you all know what it's like to be the new kid. So please, be on your best behavior and welcome him." He turned towards the teacher, Mrs. Dukes, before saying his goodbye to the class and left the class room.

Yugi stood up int the front, feeling rather nervous. He hated speaking in front of people and found it the most worst experience ever.

"Well, welcome to my AP English IV (4) class, Yugi." Mrs. Dukes greeted him and walked over to him from the back of the room. She was a short lady, petite with blond hair. She looked friendly and had laughing lines embedded on her face. " I hope you so far like it here." He nodded. "So, would you like to tell the class a little bit about yourself?" She said, oblivious to his nerves.

"Uh...sure..." Yugi turned and faced the room of twenty kids. They all watched him with interested looks, though there was a few who watched him with bored expressions. Typical high school. "Well, obviously my name is Yugi Mutou and I moved here from Japan." He started off, trying to hide his nerves. Luckily, his voice didn't shake, but his hands were so he hid them behind his back. "Uh..." He looked to the teacher, not knowing what else to say. Luckily, someone yelled out a question.

"What's it like living in Japan?" Someone asked, though Yugi couldn't tell who asked.

He swallowed and said, "Not much different than here, really." He said with a shrug. "Well, everything there was in Japanese while everything here is in English." There was a few laughs. Hearing that, made him loosen up just a little.

"You sound pretty fluent in English; how long have you been taking it for?" Someone, a guys voice, asked.

"For about five years now." He responded. For the next couple of minutes, a lot of the students would ask him questions like what he did for fun in Japan, what was his old school like and did they always eat ramen for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

"No, we eat other things too." Yugi said, trying not to laugh. "I maybe eat ramen once a week? Twice?"

"So whats your favorite food then?" A pretty girl in the front row asked.

Yugi didn't even have to think about that as he said a little sheepishly, "Well, I like hamburgers."

"That's not very cultural like." Someone snickered.

The new student shrugged, "No, I guess it's not." He smiled though.

"Okay, I've dying to ask you this," Mrs. Dukes said, and everyone turned to her, wondering what she wanted to ask. "Can you say something in Japanese?"

He smiled, wondering when that question was going to pop up. It was common for people to ask that question so he asked, "What would you like me to say?"

Boy, that was the wrong thing to say. After saying that he had a brother in his first language, a lot of requests started popping up and they spent another ten minutes off subject and learning more about the foreign student.

After the last question, this time just a normal question of how much homework did he usually get back at his old school, the teacher smiled, "Alright, that's enough for Mr. Mutou. He's probably exhausted now." Yugi nodded his thanks, indeed he was tired now. "Well, Yugi, you may take a seat anywhere you like. We're studying about The Crucible and there should be a book under your desk." (1)

"Alright." Yugi started to look around to find a seat and found a few opened. The people near the open seats called out 'You can sit here' and he didn't know which seat to choose from. Finally, he decided on one of the seats in the very middle of the room.

As he sat down, one of the girls next to him whispered, "Well, hello there, stranger."

He looked up to her and smiled, "Hi, Eilene." He remembered her from earlier when he first entered the school. "Thanks for helping me earlier."

Eilene waved her hand, "It's all good. It's like fate brought us to have a class together," she winked. She looked back at her desk where she had a textbook opened to a certain page and looked back to Yugi. In a soft voice, she whispered, "We're on page one thousand and fifty-nine."

Yugi nodded his thanks and reached under his desk to pull out a textbook. He opened it up and flipped it to the page he was just told and looked it over. It looked like some sort of play.

Mrs. Dukes started talking about some witches that made Yugi look up in interest. For the next hour and a half, he was already learning something on his first day of American school.

XxxxX

There was about five minutes left of English class when Mrs. Dukes announced that they could close their books. Many 'thunks' were heard as students shut their textbooks and placed it back underneath the desk.

Yugi did the same just as Eilene leaned over and asked, "So, what's your next class?" She had already packed her bag but kept a spiral out that had a lot of writing in it. While people were reading from the book, she would start writing in it, completely ignoring everyone else.

He pulled out his schedule from his notebook and opened it up. He took a minute to look, still slightly confused about the layout when he said, "Math..." He scrunched up his nose, not wanting to go to that class, even though he had no idea what it was going to be like. "What about you?" He looked up.

"Same," She smiled. "Though, I have an AP class with Mrs. Austin, who do you have?"

Once again, Yugi looked back down at his paper and looked for his teacher. He smiled when he saw the name. "Same," He said.

Eilene's eyes lit up as she said, "Wow, already two classes together. May I see your schedule?" Yugi nodded his head and handed her the paper just as someone in the class stood up in a rush, knocking their backpack off of their desk.

"That's it!" He looked directly to Yugi, "You're the King of Games, aren't you? I've been thinking about why you had looked so familiar!" Everyone's eyes turned to look at Yugi who gave a shaky nod. And then everyone rushed over towards the new student, all of their eyes lit up and smiles on their faces.

Before Yugi was swarmed by the mob of fans, Eilene stood up and held her hand out like a cross walk officer. "Whoa there," she said in a loud enough voice that got everyone to pause. "Don't tackle him! He just got here! How would you feel if someone tackled you on your first day of school?"

"Who cares? I just want his autograph!" One guy yelled among the class.

RIIIIIIIIIING

The school bell rung, indicating to go to their next class. A lot of students groaned and looked at Yugi with looks that said 'I'll-find-you-later' before they grabbed their bags and walked out of the door.

Yugi sighed in relief and stood up from his chair. "Thank you," he said to the first friend he made here. "I was afraid I was about to be trampled." He grabbed his things.

"Don't mention it," Eilene said cheerfully as she picked up her own backpack and swung it onto her shoulders. "I would say I was use to stopping people like how I just did, but then I would be lying." She chuckled.

Yugi smiled, thinking how his new friend sort of reminded him of his best friend, Joey.

Before the two were able to walk out of the door, Mrs. Dukes called out, "Oh, Yugi?" Said name stopped and turned around. "I know you just got here and everything, but I was hoping that you had gotten your textbook from the library. I don't want you to be too lost during our lessons, so I was going to suggest that you check out a book and read to catch up."

"Uh... no, I haven't gotten any books yet. But, I can go during lunch..." He looked over to Eilene who waited patiently by the door. He asked her a silent question, asking if he was allowed to go to the library during lunch. She nodded and he turned back around and finished what he was saying, "and get my books."

Mrs. Dukes nodded and smiled. "Please. And here," she took a few papers off of her desk and walked across the room and handed them to him, "I don't have any grades for you yet, since you just got here, but, if you're able too, do these two work pages; they'll help you understand the play, better. Just turn them in on Monday, which is our next class."

Yugi took the two pages and glanced them over real quick before nodding his head. "Alright."

"Well, we better get to class," Eilene said, not trying to be rude. They had to walk to the other side of the building, which was going to take at least three minutes and two minutes already passed for their passing periods. (They have seven minute passing periods) "See you later, Mrs. Dukes."

"Bye," Yugi waved as they started to walk out.

"It was nice meeting you, Yugi." Mrs. Dukes called out before they were out of sight.

As they walked, side by side, Eilene handed Yugi back his schedule, who had completely forgotten about it. "It looks like we have lunch together today and we both have off periods, both days." She smiled. "All of the your other classes though, I don't have, but a few of my friends do."

Yugi slipped his schedule and homework into his spiral. "Looks like I'll be having a guide for a few of my classes," he smiled, though he was thankful. He'd get lost going to their next class if Eilene didn't already know where she was going.

She nodded her head. "I can also just ask my teachers to get out of class a bit early and walk you to your next class. So, you were wanting to get your books during lunch?" She asked, changing the subject to one more important. Kind of.

"Yes, if that isn't to much of a bother."

"Nah, no bother at all. Since we have C lunch today, I can always eat during my off period."

"C-lunch?" Yugi asked, confused.

Eilene nodded. "We have a lot of students so we need more than one lunch to fit us all into the lunch room. So, we have A, B, and C-lunch. That way, everyone can eat." She smiled. "I prefer C-lunch though, you can really just leave the school if you have fourth or eighth period off. Which, I have both. For your A-day, I don't know if you have C-lunch."

The tri-colored teen nodded his head, absorbing all of this new information with ease.

The two walked up a flight of stairs and joined in with the traffic that awaited them at the top.

"So, did you get your ID yet?" Eilene asked.

Yugi shook his head, "Not yet. All I've done is got my schedule and the counselor showed me on a map where all of my classes are."

She nodded, "Alright, we'll get you that during lunch because you have to have one if you want to check out text books." They walked a bit further before Eilene said, "Well, welcome to math!" She guided her new friend into a classroom on their right.

Inside, the class was not even half way full yet. A few students were scattered around the classroom, talking with their friends and some looked to be like they were rushing to get something done. And if Yugi had to guess, they were rushing to get their homework done. An elderly lady sat at her desk in the front of the room, busy typing away at her computer. She looked to be in her mid forties, early fifties maybe.

"Just go talk to her," Eilene said. "She'll get you situated." She gave her new friend a smile before she walked over to go find her desk.

Yugi walked over to the teacher, Mrs. Austin as it had said on his schedule, and cleared his throat to get her attention as he said, "Uh... My name is Yugi Mutou and I'm new to your class."

The teacher turned around in her chair and raised in eyebrow. "Oh, you must be the new student from a whole different country." She said and gave him a sincere smile. "My name is Mrs. Austin and welcome to AP Calculus." She held out her hand as she remained sitting down.

Yugi took her outstretch hand and shook it with his own.

"I hope you will like it in this class," she continued on, " And if you have anything that you think you should tell me, please do."

"Well," he said, already knowing one thing, "So you know, I'm not very good in math."

She raised an eyebrow, a bit amused, "And yet you're in calculus. Don't worry, we have tutors if you need one," The bell rung again and students were rushing into the class room, filling up all of the empty seats. She looked around and said to Yugi, "Well, take any seat you would like; we don't have assigned seats. After the announcements, I'll be starting the lesson plan. I suggest you find someone so that they will help you get situated with anything you need help with."

He nodded and looked to the class. His eyes immediately sought out Eilene who was busy talking with a girl next to her. Behind her, was an empty seat and when she saw Yugi looking around, she waved him over. Mrs. Austin noticed and said before Yugi could leave, "Ms. Nelson is a good student. If you need any help, just ask her."

Yugi nodded, guessing that who she was talking about was Eilene's last name. He ventured away from the front of the room and towards the back where Eilene was sitting. He sat down at the desk right behind her and said, "Are you good in this class?"

She turned back in her seat and nodded her head, "Kind of. I make an average B. My friend, Lucy makes A's on about everything." She turned to her friend who had light red hair with freckles scattered on her cheeks. "Lucy, this is Yugi, Yugi this is my best friend Lucy." She said and turned back to me.

"Nice to meet you," Lucy smiled.

He nodded the same.

"So," Lucy said, "You're form Japan right? Eilene was telling me a bit about it while you were talking with Mrs. Austin." Her tone was light and soft, giving her the impression that she was shy around people she first met.

"Yup." He smiled just as a loud noise came on overhead and a male's voice sounded.

"Good morning students and faculty of Breaksville High!" He said in an overly obnoxious cheerful voice. "Will you please rise for the pledge of allegiance?" Everyone in the room rose to their feet so Yugi did the same. He mimicked other people as they placed their right hand over the heart and started to all say in unison, with the man over the intercom, the pledge, whatever it may be. "I pledge allegiance to the flag..."

Once the pledge was over, they did another one, one for the state of Texas and then everyone sat down for the moment of silence. But, apparently, no one understood what a 'moment of silence' meant as the class started to whisper to one another again. (2)

"So Yugi, how do you like it here?" Lucy whispered.

Said name shrugged, "It's alright. I mean, I haven't gotten to explore much around here, so I can't say for sure."

Both girls eyes lit up in mischief as they looked at one another and smiled.

Eilene said, "Well, that might just have to change, Yugi. Next week, during our off periods, we'll take you around this town and our town."

Yugi tilted his head, "Your town? Don't you live here?"

Lucy was the one to answer, "No, we actually live in the town over called Council (A/N Made up town also.) We have a lot of buildings and offices there." She said. "But no high school. Kids from around come here. And the reason why you don't see any elementary schools or middle schools around, is because they are in Council. Pretty weird huh, that they have two out of three schools there?"

Yugi shook his head yes. Back in Japan, all of the schools were within a couple of blocks from one another.

The announcements had just ended and Mrs. Austin stood up from her chair and walked to the front of her class. "Class," she said and managed to get them all to quiet down with the first call. "We have a new student in our class. His name is Yugi Mutou and he is from Japan. Mr. Mutou, would you be so kind as to stand up?"

He stood up, a bit embarrassed and gave off a small wave when everyone looked over at him.

"You may sit down now," she smiled and the teen did as she said. "Well, now, let's get to work, shall we? We have a lot to cover today." There was a groan from the students but they got out some paper and started to write down whatever she was.

Over the next hour, Yugi had grown to like this class. He indeed, hated math and was bad at it, but this class, he loved because he understood what was going on. Not because the teacher explained it to where he could understand it, but because he had already learned this material. Maybe about a few months ago. So, when the teacher was done explaining, she handed out a few work sheets and Yugi was one of the first few done with the first page.

"Are you sure you're bad in math?" Mrs. Austin asked as she was grading his paper. So far, she had only marked two wrong out of fifteen.

"Yes, ma'am." Yugi said truthfully as he stood at the teachers desk while everyone else was still working. "To be honest, I've already learned this material so I know how to do it. Luckily, this was one of the easiest subjects for me."

"Huh, well, I guess I don't have to say study for this class to understand what's going on." She said as she scored the paper. "A ninety-one, Mr. Mutou; not bad." She handed him back the paper and looked at him. "Just finish the other two sheets and if you don't finish, it's for homework." She smiled and watched the teen make his way back to his seat.

"You're already done with the first page?" Lucy asked, astonished when he sat down. She wasn't even half way done with her first.

"You would be too if you weren't talking," Eilene rolled her eyes but smiled. Unlike her best friend, she was on her second page. Instead of getting them graded after the first one was done, she waited until they were all done before she got them graded.

Yugi smiled as he went to work on his second page. "I actually already know how to do these problems so it's not hard for me."

Lucy raised an eyebrow, "Really? Yay! So that means you can help me!" She ignored the fact that her best friend had already told Yugi that she made A's in this class.

From the corner of his eye, Yugi noticed Eilene looking at him and shaking her head as if to say no. Lucy also noticed and jutted out her lip in a pout.

"Aw, why not?"

"Because you and I both know that you can't concentrate when a boy is around you. And, you don't even need any help with this stuff; you understand it better than I do."

Lucy sort of smirked, "Only when a cute boy is around is when I can't concentrate. So, Yugi," she turned to him, "got any girlfriends?" She gave him a wink.

Yugi, stunned, nodded his head. "Uh... yeah..."

"First day of school, and you're already getting asked out, huh?" A voice said from behind Lucy (besides Yugi). They all turned to find a guy with long brown hair covering his eyes. He was wearing all black and was smiling at them. "Hey, name's Richard." He said.

"Yugi," Yugi answered back.

"I know who you are," Richard said, watching the teen. "I've seen you all over the news and newspapers. You're real famous, you know." His voice was full of wonder, sounding a bit mysterious. He swished his hair to the right, getting his bangs to move out of his eyes.

Eilene nodded, in remembrance, "Oh right. You're the King of Games." She waved to Richard, already have known him.

Yugi felt a little blush creep up on his cheeks, but it was too light for anyone to notice. "Yup." In the back of his mind, he didn't even know if he still was the King anymore. Joey sort of won that title from him. But, did it count?

"Huh, famous and cute." Lucy said, bringing him out of his thoughts. "No wonder you have a girlfriend."

"Lucy," Eilene said, giving her that tone that said _I-can't-believe-you_, but she had it light and friendly.

"What? I'm just stating the facts," she giggled. She then turned to Yugi and said, "For the record, I'm just messing with you. Kind of."

_'I wonder how Tea would react to this?'_ Yugi thought to himself while chuckling. Thinking about his girlfriend, gave him an ache in his heart.

Richard swished his hair once again when his bangs got back into his eyes. "So, Yugi, are you going to be eating lunch with these two?" He inclined his head towards Eilene and Lucy.

He nodded, "Though, I have to go to the library to check out some texts books."

"Ah, well, I guess I'll be going with you." He said. "I eat lunch with them everyday, if you were wondering."

Eilene finished her second math page and looked at the clock on the wall. Noticing what time it was, she started to pack up her belongings, "Did I even say you could come?" She asked and paused to raise an eyebrow at the dark haired boy.

Richard shrugged, "It's a free country, I don't have to ask if I can come with you to the library," he sort of smirked. "And besides, I'm going with Yugi, not you. Even if you are escorting him there," he added when he notice his friend raise an eyebrow to correct him.

Lucy rolled her eyes as she started to pack up, "Oh, go get a room you two."

"What for?" Eilene demanded, turning her attention to her best friend.

"Your flirting." Lucy responded like it was the simplest thing in the world.

_'Wow...'_ Yugi thought with a smile as he slipped his math work into his spiral with his English work. _'I just met these people, yet, it feels like I've known them for years. They actually accepted me without hesitation. They remind me of Joey and Tea and Tristan.'_ He smiled. _'At least I made friends.'_

XxxxX

With the help of Richard, Yugi had found his way to his next class; regular Geography. Eilene and Lucy had other classes they had to get to and Richard said his next class was close to Yugi's, so he offered to guide him there. On the way there, they talked about Duel Monsters. Apparently, Richard loved the game and was okay at it. He sometimes played against his friends, and it was always flopped who won.

"Do you have your deck with you?" Richard asked as they were nearing their classes.

Automatically, Yugi's hand reached for his card holder but then stopped. "Uh... I think I may have left it in Japan." His heart beat a bit faster, not remembering if he had thought to bring his deck with him or not. Quickly, his hand resumed going to his holster and he flipped it open. As his hand entered, he sighed in relief. "Never mind, I brought my deck with me." He smiled as he closed the holder.

Richard raised an eyebrow and bit his lip, wanting to ask, but not wanting to be rude. After a quick moment of thinking, he finally decided to ask, "Do you think over lunch I could look at your deck? I've always wanted to see it up close." He smiled. "And maybe we can duel each other soon."

"Sure, and sounds fun." Yugi agreed.

They made it to Yugi's class room and Richard bid him good luck.

"Why?" Yugi slightly frowned.

"Because that's a freshman class. To be honest, I'll be surprised to see you alive by lunch." He gave a small wink before running off to class.

The tri-colored teen looked back to his class and did a small gulp. "Great..."

The first five minutes into the class, Yugi learned to dread this class. He forgot how annoying freshman could be, even though he used to be one. A lot of the students knew him from TV and wouldn't stop gawking at him and asking for autographs and wanting to challenge him. If it wasn't for the teacher, Mr. Arthur, Yugi would have died from all of the unwanted attention he was getting.

Besides the fact that he didn't like the students in the class, he actually liked the teacher and the subject. He was learning about the world a little bit more and the teacher, a man in his sixties, was really cool and laid back. Mr. Arthur didn't even give homework unless you didn't complete something in class, and he only assigned one or two assignments for the whole class period. He actually liked this class.

When lunch came, Yugi made an escape with Richard who was waiting by the door. If it wasn't for his new friend, a mob of fans would have attacked Yugi with challenges and he would still be at the entrance of the door.

"Thanks," Yugi said as they made their way to the lunchroom. He looked over his shoulder and sighed in relief that they weren't being followed anymore.

"No problem. I told you you weren't really going to like the class. Freshman really can get on your nerves."

"You got that right. I just keep wondering if I was ever like that when I was a freshman." Though, he already knew he wasn't. He was too shy and timid to be annoying. Though, the bullies did say he annoyed them because he wouldn't fight back and whatnot. But, Yugi didn't voice that part.

"Richard, Yugi!" A girl's voice caused them to look over to their right, into a hallway. Walking towards them were Lucy and Eilene, taking their time as they talked to one another.

The two boys waited for the girls.

"'Bout time you got here," Richard rolled his eyes as he said it in a playful way. They all started to walk.

Lucy rolled her eyes too. "Never, rush a lady."

"What lady?" He received a smack on the arm.

Yugi laughed at the sight, very much being reminded of his friends back at home.

Eilene turned to Yugi, "So, how did your class go?" That received a groan. She raised an eyebrow, "That bad?"

"Let's just say I was in a class full of Freshman." Yugi said.

That cleared it up for the girls.

"So, are we going to the library or lunch?" Lucy asked, changing the subject.

"Library first," Eilene said. And that they did.

It took thirty minutes to get three text books from the library and an ID. That was their whole lunch time. Yugi was trying to apologize for it, but his new friends waved it off, saying that they were going to go out to eat for lunch. They offered him to go with them.

"I would love to, but I need to get home." Yugi said. He was starting to like the idea of having an off period. But, he was really wanting to see his mom and talk about his first day of American High school. "Maybe tomorrow or next week?"

"Fine by us. And then we can go explore the town." Lucy said, not forgetting about their conversation during first period.

"Hey, want me to give you a ride home?" Eilene asked as they all made their way to the parking lot.

Yugi shook his head, "No, it's alright. I don't want to be a hassle with you helping me all day." He was carrying one of his text books while Eilene and Richard carried the other two. At first he had said that he would carry them, but the other two insisted that they would. There wasn't even an argument between them as Eilene and Richard just took the books away without asking.

"Really, it's not a hassle." She said. "And it's not like you live a hundred miles away." She rolled her eyes. They all made it to a blue, four-door Wrangler jeep. The black cover was on so no one could try and steal something out of it. Eilene dug for her keys in her pocket and clicked the button to unlock the doors.

Yugi hesitated at his door before getting in. When they were all buckled, he said, "I really appreciate this, Eilene." He looked to her as her turned the car on and backed it out of the lot.

"Don't mention it. Even though I've only known you for a couple of hours, it feels like I've known you for a few years." She shrugged. "But hey, we're friends now. So, where do you live?"

Even though Yugi hadn't been living in Texas for a long time, he already knew the exact way to get to his father's home. Without even realizing it, he had memorized the street.

All the way to Yugi's house, the four friends talked about any and everything. Most of it had to do with Yugi and his life. They learned about his family and school and friends. Yugi actually had fun talking about his life as he remembered it.

All too soon, the car pulled up to the curb in front of Yugi's house and Eilene put the car in Park. She turned around and said to Yugi as Richard handed him back his textbooks, "Well, see you tomorrow, okay?"

He nodded and smiled, "Alright. And thanks for everything. It's nice to actually make a friend on my first day of school and help me around." He bowed his head, "Arigatō."

"Ari-who?" Lucy scrunched up her nose at the foreign word.

Yugi lightly chuckled, "It means thank you in Japanese."

Richard raised an eyebrow, impressed. "Nice, now I know who can teach me a new language. See you later, Yugi."

After the goodbyes, Yugi gathered his belongings and exited the car. He walked up the driveway to the door and knocked, not having a key to unlock the door. That was one thing he was going to need to get. He turned back and waved to his friends as they started to drive away.

He turned back as he heard the door being unlocked and a lady opened the door.

"Hey mom!" Yugi's smile widened and he crushed his mom into a tight hug before she even knew what had hit her.

"Y-Yugi!" Miyuki recovered from her shock and hugged her child before beckoning him in and closing the door behind them. She locked the door and turned around to her blood and asked, "What're you doing home so soon? You have another hour left of school." She scowled him, thinking he was skipping.

Yugi lead the way to his room so he could relieve his arms of the heavy books. As they walked, he explained, "I have an off period last class both days so I didn't have to stay. And a friend dropped me off." He added when they reached his room.

Miyuki's eyes widened as she followed her son. "F-friend?" He nodded as he set his books down on his desk. But, before he could turn around fully to talk with his mother, she grabbed him and pulled him into a excited hug. "Oh, my Ra! You made a friend, Yugi!"

Yugi rolled his eyes and held back a groan by his mothers excitement. "Three, actually." That made his mother hug him harder.

"Oh, my gods," Miyuki said as she pulled back, "You must tell me how your day went, and no leaving out any detail."

The duelist launched into how his day went that took place for the next hour. When he was done explaining, Miyuki wouldn't get over the fact at how fast he made friends. That went on for at least twenty minutes.

"Well, I need to get my homework done," Yugi said, using the homework excuse so he could be alone. His mom didn't notice but she nodded her head and left his room. Once the door was closed, he walked over to his bed and flopped down on it. Laying on his side, he picked up one of his picture frames that stayed on his bed side table and examined his picture of his best friends.

Using a soft, sad tone, he said, "I miss you guys..."

XxxxX

Till next time! And for all of you Freshman out there reading this, I mean no disrespect! I probably was annoying too when I was in ninth grade.

Lisa: Yeah, years and yeeeears ago.

I'm not that old!

Fun Fact: I know some of y'all ask me where I come up with names and well, to be honest, I just think up random names. Some times I use my friend's names, (Like Mrs. Dukes, my friend has the last name of Dukes) or I use family members, (Eilene is actually my middle name) and... some times I just use whatever pops up into my brain at the moment. Most of the time, I don't have a real reason why I choose a name. :/

1- I don't know much about senior classes since I'm only a junior. So, I'm just going to be using whatever we're doing in my classes for his (but don't worry, I won't be getting into details about it.) The Crucible is what we're currently doing in English. For math further down) he's in calculus. When I told my sister about his classes, he said he sounded dumb so I had him have tougher-ish classes. :)

2- Texas does have it's own pledge and if y'all were curious about it, here's what it is: 'Honor the Texas flag, I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible.' I don't know who all lives in Texas, but here's some history! XD (In a way, :p )


	25. Brunch Dates And Alcohol

By the way, for some reason, if my italics are smushed together, please tell me. Something isn't working for me and I overlooked this chapter to make sure there were no squishing, but I could have missed one. I don't know what's up... but, oh well. Please enjoy this chapter!

**Disclaimer:I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Just my own characters!**

**Chapter Twenty-Three:**

**Atem's POV:**

"_Mana?" Atem called out as he wondered around the palace grounds. This had been the third night in a row he hadn't seen his best friend in his dreams and he was starting to get worried. He knew it was stupid to worry, since nothing could happen to her since she was in the After Life, but, he was concerned. After looking through all of the places he usually found his brunette friend and he couldn't find her, he decided to travel to his home, even if it was in the After Life. It wasn't hard for him to do, just took a bit to get there. Teleporting' his mind to the After Life took a bit of life energy from him, which was why he rarely did it. This just so happened to be his third trip here. Because he was once a pharaoh and was given a second chance at life, he was able to go to the After Life._

"_Prince Atem? What're you doing here?" A voice called out, causing the once prince to stop and turn around. Coming towards him with a confused expression was none other than Mahad, one of the priests and also one of his good friends. _

_Atem smiled and greeted his old friend, "Mahad." Said name came to a stop in front of him as he continued, his smile fading into one more of concern, "Have you seen Mana? I haven't seen her in a few days." He looked over to his right where the courtyard was. But of course, he didn't find her there. _

_The priest slightly tilted his head, "Mana? Now that you mention her, no, I haven't seen her for a while. Now I understand why it has been so quiet here."_

_The prince bit his lip. If her own teacher hadn't seen her in a couple of days, then, where could she be? _

"_She's probably just traveling," Mahad noticed his friend's unease. "You know she likes to do that."_

"_Yes, but she has never been gone for this long." _

_Back when Atem had lived in the After Life, before he was granted his own body, he and Mana would take trips in the world otherwise known as the Dead. They would go to different time periods and see how other people lived. Sometimes, Mana left on her own without telling Atem, and later was scowled at by him. Ever since he went back to the world of the living, to be with Yugi, Mana only went exploring while he was awake. Every time he fell asleep, she was always there, talking up a storm. _

_Mahad nodded and started to walk away, knowing the prince would follow. Of course he did, but that didn't help get rid of the frown on his face. "Just give her some space. Maybe she found something interesting and wanted to get to know it better."_

_Atem snorted, that was totally true. Feeling a bit better, he asked, "So, how have you been doing, Mahad?" He turned towards his friend, trying to get Mana out of his head for a while. Before she 'disappeared', they would always spend the time together to where Atem and Mahad barely had any time to talk. Yeah sometimes the priest would join in with them, but that wasn't the same as 'men time.' _

"_I have been alright. What about you? I heard about your Light. Is he okay?" He gently asked, knowing fairly well the prince most likely wasn't. He had witnessed what had happened the day Yugi was taken from his home and noticed how Atem had been in a depressed mood. _

"_I have been holding up fairly well and as for Yugi, I want to say he is okay, but I'm not positive." Atem said with a hint of bitterness in his voice. He looked away and watched where he was walking. "I hope he is alright…"_

"_I am surprised you haven't gone after him." _

_Atem shook his head, "I've decided that I wasn't going to. This is one battle I cannot fight."_

_Mahad raised one eyebrow in surprise. This was the first he had heard the prince ever say he was going to leave something alone, whether it had been business with Egypt or of his Light. "Why is that?"_

"_This isn't my battle," he explained in a softer voice. "This is family business. Even though I'm a part of their family, I can't butt myself into it because I'm not related by blood. This is between Yugi and his father and mother." He shook his head. "I trust in Yugi to find his way home. My only concern is what his father will be doing in the mean time."_

"_And that is why I am here!" A very cheerful voice sounded. Appearing in a pink cloud of smoke, a few feet in front of the boys, was none other than Mana. She held her wand out to the side and smiled real big. "Atem!" She ran and jumped on the prince, hugging him tightly with her feet sticking out behind her. _

"_Mana," Mahad scowled his apprentice but it didn't do anything. Either Mana was ignoring that warning tone or she was ignoring it. _

_Atem had caught his friend, being used to it. "Where have you been, Mana?" He asked as he set her back down on her feet. _

_The young magician held her hands behind her back as she started to walk forwards. The boys followed. "Well, I've been a lot of places. And let me tell you, some people have very weird and scary dreams." She gave a shudder from memory._

"_Dreams?" The priest asked and then realized what she had been doing, "Mana, don't tell me you've been snooping through other people's business again." He frowned at her. _

_Holding up an innocent expression, she said, "But I wasn't! I was on a mission!"_

_The prince tilted his head, "You can go through other people's dreams? I didn't know that."_

_Mana turned to him and nodded her head, "You don't only think I can go to yours, do you?" She smirked a bit. _

"_Uh…" Quickly changing the topic, he asked, "So why were you going through other people's dreams for?" He wouldn't admit it, but he did kind of think she could only come to his. _

"_Oh, right!" She cleared her throat and announced, "I've been traveling around to find someone. I never realized how hard it was… there are just so many people out there!" She twirled her wand in her hand behind her back without even realizing it. Atem watched in amusement. _

"_Whose dream are you trying to find?" Mahad asked patiently. He wasn't surprised by this, since it was something common for the young magician. _

_The girl looked towards her best friend and smiled proudly, "Well, I thought it'd be nice if Atem knew what was going on with Yugi, so I've been on the search for his mind."_

_Atem's eyebrows shot up. That was unexpected. He didn't even know how to respond so Mana continued. _

"_I won't be able to talk with him, since he didn't live in Egypt, but I can still watch over him and take notes." She said. "But, I don't even know where to look." The twirling of her wand stopped and she sulked. "It's been three days and I haven't found any trace of him."_

"_Have you tried looking in the…" He paused, trying to remember the name of that state Yugi's father moved to. "Texas? I think that's where he is at right now."_

_Mana shook her head as her eyes brightened up. "Nope, but now I have a lead." _

_It took Atem a moment to wonder how she did this. Going to different periods in time was easy because you just took a portal, but he never heard anything about dreams. Now he wondered how his friends got to his dreams. _

"_So wait, how exactly do you find dreams?" He decided to ask, curious. "I realized I never asked you how you always found mine."_

_Instead of Mana answering, Mahad did. "It's not always easy to find a certain person through their dreams. You first have to know the person to make the search easier." They continued to walk the halls of the palace, not once coming in contact with anyone else. "Each person has a different colorful strand that you can sort through."_

"_What does the color represent?"_

"_Their personality," Mana piped in. "Your dream strand is a really dark crimson color with blotches of violet and many dark colors of orange and red." When she received a curious, slightly confused look, she explained what they stood for, "Everyone's colors are different. As much as I have guessed for yours is that the crimson stands for your eye color, the orange and reds is because of Egypt and I haven't really guessed what the violet color was for."_

'That's because it's not violet but amethyst.' _He thought. Out of all of the eye colors he had ever seen, his Light's was his most favorite. He guessed it was because there was no other human with that exact color (that he knew of) and to him, it was just a unique color. Eyes was one thing he was always fond of because they revealed so much about someone. And, years ago, Yugi's eyes helped him find out just what his partner really thought. _

"_So, everyone's is different?" Atem asked, wondering how that was possible since there were so many people out there. _

_Mahad nodded. "You'd be surprised." _

"_I just don't know what color Yugi's is so I had to go through a lot of people's dreams to see whose it was. And it's been taking me forever to tell." She sighed. _

"_There isn't like… an index or something or has their name on the strand?" Atem asked, thinking that would be more helpful. _

_Mahad gently laughed and shook his head. "That would make things a lot easier, wouldn't it? But no, if it's really important to you, than you'll be able to find the right one."_

_Mana paused for a minute, thinking, "Hm… I guess I haven't been trying hard enough." The other two paused and turned around, watching her. Then suddenly, she bounced up and grabbed her best friend's hands by both of hers. She stared into his eyes and promised, "When I find Yugi's dreams, I'll watch him and I'll report back. You don't need to worry anymore!"_

"_Mana, you don't have to do this-," He started to say but apparently his friend wasn't paying attention. _

"_It will take me a couple of days and then a few more so I can watch him." She continued. "Though, I just wish he would be able to hear and see me." She sort of pouted at that. But then she brightened up and said, "Maybe I could use magic to help with that cause!"_

_Mahad eyes looked disapproving but his student didn't seem to notice, "Mana," he said. _

_Atem smiled and he was released. He was just about to say something when he heard an annoying beeping noise. "Ugh…" he groaned and both of his past life friends stopped talking and looked at him. "Sorry guys, but I have to go; my alarm is going off."_

"_Aw," Mana jutted out her lip. "Alright, but I'll see you soon!" She said and hugged him real tight. _

_He hugged her back and waved to Mahad before waking up from his dream._

_XxxxX_

Atem blinked his eyes open and turned over, his hand blindly started to look around for the alarm clock, even though it was always in the same place. The annoying sound made him hurry up since he didn't feel like listening to it anymore.

Finally, his hand found the machine and he pushed the little button to turn it off. He laid on his back and stared up at his ceiling, trying to wake himself up. His thoughts remained on what Mana had said.

'_Well, that does explain why I haven't seen her in a while...' _He closed his eyes for a moment, '_I kind of don't want her to tell me what is going on with Yugi. I don't think I'll be able to take it. But, then, on the other hand, at least I'll know if he's safe.'_

He reopened his eyes and let out a groan. Out loud, he complained to himself, "I don't want to go to school." Despite his complaint, he sat up and started his day.

XxxxX

**Yugi's POV:**

Friday had come and gone in a blink of an eye. Yugi had gone to his new classes and actually liked them. They were all easy classes for him so he couldn't help but like them. AP physics, AP history, gym and another off period. Easy classes compared to the ones back in Japan.

He had a class with Richard and that was history and had gym with Lucy. Physics was the only class where he was alone, well, kind of. Once the people in that class realized who he was, everyone wanted to sit next to him. That was the only thing he didn't really like; everyone treating him like he was some famous person. He was only _once_the King of Games. He even tried telling people that his friend won the title from him, but they just laughed and thought he was joking. Richard had shrugged and told him when he next saw his friend, he was going to have to win the title back, but he had a joking sense with him.

His mom still couldn't get over the fact that her son had made friends so easily on the first day of school, that Yugi was starting to feel embarrassed. Thankfully, there was no one around to witness his discomfort. Chokichi could care less as he kept to himself.

It was now Saturday morning meaning there was no school. Yugi had already been dressed, eaten a piece of toast to stop his rumbling stomach and brushed his teeth. Now, he waited on the couch, watching some interesting cartoons while waiting.

Miyuki walked into the living room, quietly yawning with sleep still in her eyes. Her hair was in a mess as her eyes sort of drooped a bit. She had her bathrobe loosely wrapped around her and she stopped when she noticed her son already ready for the day. Then she noticed the time on the wall.

"Yugi? Where are you going so early in the morning?" She smiled as she walked over to him and kissed his forehead.

Without breaking eye contact from a show on TV called _Gummy Bears _(1)he said, "Grandma was going to be taking me out to lunch so we could talk."

Miyuki frowned but continued her stride into the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee she desperately needed. "Really… Well, it's awfully early for lunch." She said, indicating that is was barely nine o'clock.

He nodded, "Well, maybe it might be for breakfast, I really have no idea. It's whatever she wants." Then he paused and began to think, a crease embedded in his forehead, not like his mom could see. "Or maybe… it could be like brunch."

"Brunch?" She raised an eyebrow as she poured the caffeine into a mug and spooned some sugar into it. She stirred it and walked back into the living room and sat down next to her child. She tucked her feet underneath her to get more comfortable.

"Yup," he turned away from his show and explained, "It's a combination of lunch and breakfast." He smiled even though he already had heard the word somewhere else before. "And there's another one for lunch and dinner. It's linner. Or, I also heard about this other one called lupper. Combination of lunch and supper."

Miyuki rolled her eyes as she took a small sip of her drink. "Have I ever told you how weird you are?" She playfully joked.

Yugi smirked, "Yes, but I had to of learned it from someone."

"Yes, and I blame your grandfather." She chuckled.

The teenager rolled his eyes and returned his attention to the TV.

After a couple of minutes, the show went to commercial and Miyuki looked around, frowning. "Have you seen Chokichi this morning?"She asked, remembering him coming to bed last night but don't remember him getting up.

"Yeah, he left when I was waking up; an hour or so ago." Yugi answered. "He said he had to meet someone this morning or something like that…" he frowned, trying to recall what his father had told him earlier. All he could remember was the urge to use the restroom or his bladder would explode. He shrugged, "I think he said he would be back later today." Really, he could careless at this point. He didn't know how he was supposed to feel right now about that man.

After another sip of her coffee, she asked, "So what time is Barbra getting here?"

Yugi looked to the clock on the wall and started to count in his head, "About… twenty minutes?" He said, making it seem more like a question rather than an answer. "When I had gotten up, she called and told me to be ready in the next hour." He bit his lip, rethinking his answer. "Or maybe it might be sooner than that."

Miyuki nodded her head, trying not to feel jealous that he was going to be spending his day with someone she didn't really like. But then she mentally slapped herself about feeling that way.

'_This is this first time ever getting the chance to talk with his grandma. I should be happy for him now that he finally gets to meet some of his family other than myself and Solomon.' _

She put on a happy face, dismissing the thought away and trying not to force it, changed her prespective, "I hope you have fun, sweetie." She leaned over and kissed his temple, making a loud smacking noise.

Yugi pulled away and wiped his temple with the back of his hand, "Eew!" He said, sounding like a little child. "But I will." Aside from him joking, he grinned back at his mom. "I can't wait to find out what she's like and find out new things."

Miyuki couldn't help but let that smile turn real by the eagerness radiating off of the teen. She held the mug in her hand carefully, making sure it wasn't going to spill everywhere as she rested it on her knee.

Continuing, Yugi paused for a moment, his smile fading a bit as something important just occurred to him, "Mom," he asked, his voice going sounding a bit serious.

"Yes?"

"Why haven't I met your side of the family yet?" He asked innocently. The thought never really occurred to him in the past and it wasn't ever relevant enough to ask. Now thinking about his father's side of the family got him curious about his mother's.

Miyuki thought for a moment, knowing he was going to ask that sooner or later. "You have actually met them, but you were only a toddler."

"Really?" His serious face melted away, leaving only curiosity plastered on his face. "But, why haven't I seen them since?"

"I don't really know, to be exact. I saw them from time to time when I was traveling around and stayed with my sister a few times." She said. She thought some more, wondering why her son hasn't seen her mom or siblings for pretty much his whole life. "Maybe someday soon, I'll call them up for a family reunion and bring you along. You must be dying to meet some cousins of yours."

"Cousins?" That caused a flicker of excitement flash in the boy's eyes. "I have cousins?"

Miyuki couldn't help but nod her head and smile. "Yes you do. If I remember correctly, you have at least five cousins. I have a sister and a brother, your aunt and uncle, and one of them has three kids while the other has two. If I remember correctly, two should be around your age while the other three are younger."

_'_I have cousins!'_ _Yugi thought excitedly. All he ever knew for family was grandpa, his mom, Atem, Iggi, and his close friends. He never even dreamed about any cousins.

"What are their -," He was cut off by three short knocks on the door. He looked up along with his mom to the door before he said, "That's grandma." He leaned over and kissed his mom's cheek before half walking, half running over to the door to answer it.

Miyuki couldn't help but feel a bit happy by the boy's excitement as she watched him go. "Have fun, Yugi."

Answering the door, Yugi came face to face with his grandma who smiled warmly at him. "Good morning, Yugi." She said and added, "Are you ready?"

Yugi nodded eagerly before looking back to his mom and said, "I'll be back later." He walked out the door after seeing his mother nod her head and closed the door behind him. As he and Barbra walked over to where the car was parked in the drive way, he asked, "So, where were we going?"

Barbra walked to the driver's side while her grandson walked around and got in the passenger side. As they were buckling up, she announced, "There is a restaurant in Austin that I wanted to take you to. I've been there a few times and their food is amazing. The place is called Kerbey Lane."

Yugi nodded, "Sounds good to me."

XxxxX

After ordering their meal, pancakes for Yugi and French toast for Barbra, there was an awkward silence. Barbra had rested her elbows on the table with her chin resting on her folded hands as she watched her grandson try not to look around in curiosity. She didn't know where to begin on asking questions that contained Yugi's life. She wanted to know so much but didn't know how to form the right questions.

Yugi was the same way. He thought by looking around, he would be able to come up with some kind of answer to ask his grandma. The questions were in his head, yet, they didn't want to form out of his mouth. He was trying to figure out what to ask first.

About the same time they both thought of their question, they asked it at the same question, only to stop and smile at one another.

"You go first," Yugi said politely, not minding.

"No, you go first," Barbra said.

Knowing this was not going anywhere fast, Yugi thought up of a suggestion, "How about we play the twenty question game; you ask a question, I answer and then I ask you a question." He smiled.

Barbra nodded, seeing that make more sense. "Alright. So, Yugi, what is it you like to do for fun?" She took a small sip from her coffee mug that she had ordered when they arrived at the cafe and were seated.

Without even having to think about the answer, it sort of just slipped out, "I like playing Duel Monsters and hanging out with my friends." He said. Then, added a little sheepishly, "And uh... playing other games too."

She raised an eyebrow in curiosity, "You like to play games too?" Her ex husband always had a frenzy with board or card games that was why he opened a game shop. It was kind of no wonder this boy liked games.

Yugi nodded his head, "Yes, ma'am. They help be calm down or relax or help me think." He answered honestly. "I played a lot of games when I was younger." Then he thought to himself, 'It was the only thing I could do...'

Barbra nodded. "Do you have any favorite games besides this Duel Monsters?" She asked.

"Well, I like all of the other games equally. I don't really have a favorite besides Duel Monsters. Whatever game you have, I'll play and most likely like it." Which was true. "What about you, do you like games?"

"A few," she admitted, "Though they are mostly card games and they are the old ones."

For the next hour and a half, the two talked endlessly about everything. Since Barbra missed practically all of her only grandson's life, she wanted to know everything about it. She was a good listener and kept to herself about some things. Yugi, as he was explaining, felt relax around the woman and told her everything. Part of him wanted his grandma to know everything about him while the other part made him hush-hush about some things like all of the magic and Atem and his past life. Other than those few things, he explained everything without giving away too much. It wasn't that he wanted to keep it a secret, but more as he knew Barbra wouldn't believe him.

He was ending his Battle City experience when his grandma stopped him with raised eyebrows, "You won?" She asked and he nodded. She gave him a smile that showed she was proud. Yugi never felt happier about winning someone's approval like this before.

During the time they talked, Yugi had found out that his grandma worked as a manager at a company called HealthCare. He didn't know exactly what she did, but it sounded interesting. He also found out that after the divorce, she stopped dating and never got remarried. Even though she wanted grandchildren, she couldn't bring herself to love anyone else.

"And besides," she had told him, "I already have the perfect grandson. Why would I need more?"

Barbra had asked about Solomon and how he was doing and about his friends. She knew their names, but that was about it. She wanted to know more. For some reason, she stayed away from the topic of Atem, like she knew he was lying, but didn't want to call him out. Not just yet, anyways. Yugi was fine with it, because he didn't feel like lying to her. He was through with lying and didn't want to do it again.

"Well, we must do this again sometime soon," She said as the two walked out of the little café. She had already paid for everything and her tummy was full.

Yugi nodded eagerly, "We should." He loved talking with his grandma. Even though he just met her and it was awkward talking to her at first, he felt relaxed around her and started to get comfortable. It felt like he had known her his entire life instead of just a couple of days. "And thank you for breakfast." He grinned.

Barbra smiled and sideways hugged her grandson. "You're very welcome."

XxxxX

That night, Yugi was sprawled out on the floor in the living room, finishing up his homework from yesterday so he wouldn't have to worry about it tomorrow. He already managed to get the majority of his work done and now just had to read two chapters for history. Miyuki was playing a game of Sudoku on the couch and was thinking deeply on the game she was currently on.

It had been a somewhat quiet night for the two. Chokichi had gone out drinking with friends from work an hour or three before so they were just resting up for tomorrow. But, before the man of the house had left, Yugi and his mom had met new people.

_Flashback:_

"_Guys, this is my wife Miyuki and my son Yugi," Chokichi said, trying to keep his voice light and friendly. "Yugi, Miyuki, this is Tyran, Charlie and Danzo." He said going from left to right in order and nodded to each one. _

"_Hey," Danzo said with a friendly smile on his face. He held out his hand to Miyuki who shook his hand with a small smile. Then he looked over to Yugi and shook his hand while saying, "I can barely see the resemblance between you and your old man." He gave him a wink even though partly the statement was true. _

_Chokichi rolled his eyes but remained quiet as Yugi just nodded his head, feeling slightly uncomfortable. In his mind, he was glad he barely looked like his father so really, he was receiving a compliment. _

_Tyran just nodded his head in greeting, impatient to get going, though he never showed it. _

_And as for Charlie, he stared, gaping at Yugi in front of him. His heartbeat was pounding in his chest and he couldn't get over the fact that the man who he never thought of meeting was in the very same room as he. _

"_Oh, my Gods," Charlie almost shouted, scaring the poor teen. Everyone looked over to him just as he rushed over to Yugi, clumsily pulling out something from his pocket, "Yugi, I never, ever in my wildest mind thought I would ever get to meet you in person." He said and at that moment, Yugi knew where this was going. _

'Oh great,' _Yugi thought. He had enough of it at school. But, he faked a smile and let the much older man continue his blabbering_.

"_Please, can I have your autograph?" Charlie was practically bouncing up and down with excitement as he held out the paper and a Sharpie he had waiting in his pocket. _

"_Sure," Yugi said, ignoring the smirks he saw from the corner of his eyes from his father's coworkers. He took the paper and pen and was about to write his name when he noticed the paper he was holding. It was a Duel Monster's card and it just so happened to be a card he still owned, though it was back in Japan. _

"_Do you play?" He asked and wrote his name on the back of the card so he wouldn't ruin the picture. _

_Charlie shook his head, "Sadly I don't. Work eats up to much of my time, but I know the basics of the game." Yugi handed back the card otherwise known as the Duel Monster called Curse of Dragon. He held the card in his hand and added, "I've seen every one of your battles that they aired on TV, including the one with you dueling against Seto Kaiba the very first time. That's how I know how to play the game."_

_Yugi nodded and also gave the Sharpie back. He could tell by just looking at him jumping around in excitement he was a huge fan and it made him feel a little happy. "So why the Curse of Dragon?" He asked, curious on why he signed that card. Usually, there was always a back story, sometimes not. _

_This time, there was. "When I watched you battle against Mr. Kaiba, that dragon just seemed to call out to me." He ignored a snicker coming out of the peanut gallery. He even forgot that there were others still in the room. He had been so focused on Yugi, he completely ignored everything and everyone in the room. "From then on, I just had this admiration for it. And it's a shame you don't have him in your deck anymore."_

_The tri-haired boy smiled and shook his head, "I actually have two decks now." That sparked an interest in the twenty year old. "The one I use the most, it doesn't have The Curse of Dragon in it, but in my other deck does. I wish I could show you, but I don't have it with me. My brother still has it."_

_At the mention of a brother, Chokichi stopped any further conversation with a clear of his throat. "Well, we better get going." He looked to his coworkers and then to his family. "See you in a couple of hours," and then gave them a look that said not to leave the house. He smiled for show and ushered the men to leave. _

_As Charlie was practically being pushed out, he managed to call over his shoulder, "Hopefully, I'll get to talk to you soon, Yugi!" _

_Said name just smiled and sort of waved. _

_Before the door shut, Chokichi gave his family one last look before closing and locking the door._

_End of Flashback:_

Miyuki looked up from her game, a bit frustrated. She had been working on this puzzle for the last ten minutes and she wasn't having any luck with it. To try and clear her mind, she glanced up and her eyes sought out her baby. He was still lying on his stomach with his legs crossed and in the air. His attention was fixed on the textbook in front of him as he read with a fascinated look upon his face. He only moved his position when something fell asleep.

"Having fun?" She asked with amusement showing in her voice.

Yugi nodded his head without bothering to look up. "I don't know why, but their history is so interesting." He said, talking about the United States. He was fairly good in history even though he grew bored of it, but right now, he was glued to the text written there.

"Maybe it's because you didn't grow up with it and it wasn't forced to learn it."

He shrugged and resumed reading.

Miyuki gazed back down at the paper, thinking she could solve this impossible game now and bit the end of her pen in concentration. It wasn't long before she grew frustrated once more and looked up. Her eyes scanned the perimeter of the room, looking for something to keep her mind occupied. That was when she heard the keys in the lock, opening the door.

Both Miyuki and Yugi looked up just in time to see Chokichi stagger into the house, his face relaxed and looked like he was having the time of his life. He turned around to close the door and waved to his friends as they drove away (Charlie was the only one who didn't drink so he could drive everyone home.) He locked the door and turned around. And just like that, his smile vanished when he caught sight of his family. A glare was set in his eyes instead of that carefree look he had when entering the house. His smile was turned into a grim line and he started to walk towards them.

Sensing something bad was about to happen, Miyuki put her unfinished game down on the couch in a hurry and said to Yugi, "Honey, go to your room." Her voice was full of urgency that Yugi took as a hint and gathered his book and finished homework. He was just starting to stand up when his father said in a tight voice.

"Going somewhere, _son?_" He spat out the last word. He made it across the room and before his wife could even stand up or Yugi to turn away, he grabbed his son by the front of the shirt and lifted him off the ground to where his feet dangled an inch or two above the carpet.

The book and paper had slipped from the teen's grasp by the sudden movement and he went still for a second. Then, his hand automatically grasped his father's hand in attempt to try to make the older man to let go. Of course that didn't work so he said in voice that sounded scared but also mad, "Let go!" He squirmed a bit, hoping his weight would do something.

"Chokichi!" Miyuki yelped and tried to come to the rescue for her boy. She reached out and grabbed the arm that was holding Yugi and tried to pull his arm away, but, she wasn't strong enough.

Chokichi glanced down with a dull look that read _Don__'__t-mess-with-me_and he tried shaking the smaller woman off. But, the woman held on like she was glued to him, making him irritated. "Get off!" He growled and managed to drop his grip on his son's shirt to slap his wife across the face.

From the force behind the slap, Miyuki was knocked to the ground; tears uncontrollably welled up in her eyes. A bright, red hand print was beginning to form on her cheek as her fingers softly ran over the aggravated skin. She was starring wide-eye at the man who had just hit her.

Yugi's eyes widen in horror from where he landed on his butt. "Mom!" He yelped, trying to make sure she was okay.

By the sound of his voice, the drunken man looked down and smirked. His son was trying to get to his knees so that he could crawl over to his mother, but, Chokichi wasn't in the mood to see some sappy scene. Barely bending down, he grabbed his son by the hair and yanked him up so that he was on his feet.

The tri-haired teen cried out in pain as he was forced to a standing position. Both of his hands tried to stop the hurt as they gripped the other hand.

"Shut your mouth, runt." Chokichi hissed and glared down at his victim. "Or I'll shut it for you."

Yugi tried to stop causing noise but the pain was a little too much. Slipping one last time through his mouth was a small cry, but that was enough to have a fist in his stomach. He tried to double over in pain, but the grip on his hair made it impossible.

"I told you not to talk," He said, not at all sounding sorry for his action.

"W-why…?" Yugi managed to asked, even though he was punched once more in the stomach. He needed to know why he was getting beat up or if it was just the alcohol acting up.

Chokichi tightened his grip on the boy's hair before throwing his to the ground as hard as possible. When Yugi landed on his side, he pulled his leg back and kicked him hard in the stomach. "You need to be taught a lesson. A lesson that will be remembered." He said and kicked the unfortunate teen again. He continued talking, "And that lesson is to not disobey any rule I give you. You follow them and nothing will happen to you." And then he thought to add, "Or your mother." With one last kick in the side, he stopped.

Yugi had had his hands wrapped around his head as his body automatically went to fetal position. When the kicking had stopped, he felt the bruises he had received a few days ago start to ache again. No doubt they would be a darker black and blue tomorrow instead of just the light color they were now with some yellow coming up.

"Nn…" He grinded his teeth together from the pain in his sides. Then he stopped, not completely caught up with what his father had just said. '_Or__my__mother?__' _He thought. And then, panic sirens flared in his mind as it registered.

Ignoring the pain, he rolled over and made it to his knees, looking for his mom. Chokichi had grabbed her wrist and jerked her to a standing position. From there, he backhanded the woman on both of her cheeks as he tried to get away. But, he was still holding onto her wrist.

"Mom!" Yugi croaked, after the third slap (or fourth if you count the first one). He tried to make it to his feet, but before he could, Chokichi released her and whipped around, his eyes trained on his son's. Yugi cowered in fear, but, it was for nothing. Instead of his father turning his attention on him, he just walked past the teen and left the room, going to the room known as his office.

Not watching the older man leave, Yugi ran over to his mom and hugged her, asking her, "Are you alright?"

Miyuki's arms wrapped around her son's trembling frame. What had just happened, she didn't understand. Chokichi was known for doing more harm than what he had just done. So, why didn't he continue? Was it because the alcohol made him a bit soft but angry at the same time? What even caused him to lash out like he did? She still couldn't understand why he didn't continue the beating. Then she stopped herself. She was _glad_he stopped. Why was she questioning on why he stopped?

__'Get a hold of yourself, Miyuki,'_ _She ordered herself. She shook her head to clear it and peered down at her son who was looking up at her.

"You alright?" He asked and loosened his grip on his mom.

She nodded her head but then grew concern on how he faired, "I'll live, but what about you?" She brushed his blond bangs from his eyes to look into his amethyst orbs. She saw a bit of pain there, but it wasn't much. It was barely there.

"Same." He answered and then looked over to where his father had left. "But, I wonder if he'll always be like that when he gets drunk…" His words lingered in the air as Miyuki said nothing. All she could think about was the night Solomon had ordered his own son to leave and never come back.

XxxxX Till next time! ^^

For Yugi not fighting back, there's a reason for it. Just please be patient because in a few chapters, it'll be explained.

1-This was an old cartoon back in like the 80's? 90's? I vaguely remember watching it, but my sister owns the first series so I've been re-watching it. You didn't know how bad I wanted to say he was watching Yu-Gi-Oh! Because that is what I watch Saturday mornings! ^^ I never get up in time for the nine o'clock show, I like my sleep a little too much, but I always watch the eleven o'clock one.


	26. Sightseeing In Austin

Just a random shout out, but thank you to **Angeldrkfire **for being the 200th reviewer!

Lisa: And thanks times a million to everyone else for reviewing too. This story wouldn't have gone far without y'all! Literally, it wouldn't have gone that far…

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Just my own characters!**

**Chapter Twenty-Four:**

"Morning, Yugi!" A cheerful voice rang out above all of the other chattering teens.

Said name looked up from the floor and smiled at his new friend as he entered his English class ten minutes before the final bell rung. More than half of the room was filled with students as they continued their latest news to their friends. In the middle of the room, Eilene waved him over to her in an excited way.

Picking up his pace just a little, the young foreign teenager made his way to his seat and had only enough time to place his belongings on his desk before Eilene asked, "Are you still up for later today?" She leaned over the isle a bit so she could hear above the loud voices.

Sitting down, Yugi looked over at her, a bit confused. "Up for what?" His mind was still a bit unorganized from the events that took place over the weekend so he couldn't remember anything that happened last week.

Eilene rolled her eyes and said, "Go sightseeing! Remember me, Lucy, and Richard were going to take you to Austin to look around during our off periods?" She paused, frowning a bit as she thought, "Actually, we can leave during lunch since we all have C-lunch. We can eat on the way there or find a restaurant to eat at." She smiled at him, her green eyes shinning with excitement.

"Oh right," Yugi nodded, partly remembering the conversation he had with the other two on Thursday.

Apparently, that wasn't the reaction Eilene had been hoping for. "Unless, you don't want to go." She said, trying to hide the disappointment that was trying to make itself known.

Quickly shaking his head, he responded, "No no, I want to go." He said, trying to loosen up and not force the enthusiasm into his voice. Just because he didn't have a great weekend, didn't mean he needed to act different. In order to find out why his father had brought him and his mother here, he needed to act normal and like nothing was going on at home. "Sorry, I just had a boring weekend and it seems my mind is elsewhere." He smiled to show that he meant it.

He continued on, "I kind of forgot about today but since you reminded me, yup, I'm up for it." He sat down at his seat and turned to face her. Luckily, no one in the room was running up to him to take a picture with him or get an autograph. He could relax for now in this class and continue on with their conversation without being interrupted.

"Are you sure?" Eilene asked, not wanting to force him into going.

"Yup."

She nodded, looking a little more convinced. "If you're sure."

Now it was Yugi's turn to roll his eyes, "Of course I'm sure. I wouldn't agree if I didn't want to go." And that did the trick; she nodded her head and resumed the expression from when he first entered the room. "So, where all were you wanting to go?"

"I have a few thoughts in mind." She answered him, and sat normal in her chair again as she pulled out a spiral from her backpack. As she turned to a certain page, she continued to talk, "I know for a fact that we have to go to a toy store because Lucy's sister is having her birthday soon. Lucy needed to buy her something… Is there a particular place you wanted to go too?"

Yugi shook his head.

She nodded and reached the page she had been searching for. On it had a lot of writing with some things circled and some things crossed out. Before the bell rung, Eilene started to share some of the places that she thought up so Yugi would get an idea.

XxxxX

"Yay! Road trip!" Lucy squealed as the four of them piled into Eilene's jeep. She took the front seat as the two boys took the back.

Richard rolled his eyes, "It's only an hour away, Lucy. You can't really call that a road trip."

Lucy turned around in her seat as Eilene started the car and started to leave the place behind. She gave him a playful glare as she said, "We're going on a road, right?" Richard rolled his eyes once more and turned to Yugi with one of those sarcastic looks on his face. But he nodded his head to answer. "Then it's a road trip."

Yugi smiled. "But doesn't a road trip usually consist of a couple of hours?" He chuckled upon seeing Lucy's shocked face that he was taking Richards side and not hers.

"H-how could you, Yugi?" She asked, faking a good impression of disbelief. She grabbed her shirt where underneath it would be her heart and did a dramatic breath that caught up in her throat. "How could you take his side and not mine?"

Eilene snorted and glanced at her best friend, "After seeing that, I can tell why Yugi took Richard's side." She took her eyes away from her friend and looked ahead on the road. Then, glanced in the review mirror and smiled at the two boys.

Lucy gaped at the driver as a slender eyebrow shot up, "And whose side are you on?" She crossed her arms against her chest and waited for an answer.

"My own," she replied. She smiled at her friend.

Yugi couldn't help but enjoy the conversation as he looked out the window. The longer he hung around these three, the more he desperately needed to get back home to where his own friends were. Being around these three made him feel happy, but at the same time sad. Both group of friends were too similar. The only thing he could think on how they were not besides there being more girls, is that no one could pull off a Joey move whether he talk about something totally random or his stomach. Little did Yugi know, he actually missed that particular blond and his stomach.

He bit his cheek, trying not to let himself feel to down about it. He should try and relax and have fun. This was sort of a once in a life time opportunity and he was dwelling on the negative and not the positive. He should at least try and enjoy himself for however long he was going to be here, right? No one was going to be happy if they heard he was living with the past and only thinking on bad thoughts. But, how could he think on happy ones? It made feel a bit guilty. Should he be happy? No doubt Atem and Grandpa and Joey and everyone else was worried about him. If he felt happy, it would feel like he _wanted_ to be here and -

"Yugi, what're you thinking about?" A soft voice interrupted the teen from his thoughts.

Yugi turned his gaze away from the scenery as it flew by to the person sitting one seat away from his own. His amethyst orbs met the dark ones that hid behind a curtain of brown hair, otherwise known as Richard. Yugi frowned and then shrugged, "Nothing important, why?" He asked, looking curiously towards the other male in the car. The two girls in the front seat were talking about the school's dance coming up soon. The Prom, which caused Yugi's heart to ache. They were so engrossed in their conversation, they completely forgot about the two in the back seat. Quickly, he tuned them out and only concentrated on his companion.

Richard shrugged his shoulders and leaned forward in the seat to where his backpack laid on the floor. He zipped it opened and started to rummage around, looking for something in particular. "You looked like you were in deep thought, was all." He found what he was looking for and pulled out a drawing book and a pencil and a big, white eraser.

"Oh," Was all Yugi said, not knowing what else to say to that. He watched his friend lean back into the seat and opened the pad of paper to a certain drawing. Last week, Yugi had found out Richard was an artist and could draw any and everything. He drew people to anime characters, to animals to buildings. He had a real talent. As of now, he was drawing people. He had just started a new drawing today during math when he got bored, so no one knew what he was drawing. When he or Eilene or Lucy asked, he would just shrug and said, "You'll see" and leave it at that. Right now, There were four circles and bodies attached to them, so Yugi figured Richard was drawing people.

"Anything you wanted to talk about?" Richard asked, not glancing up from his drawing as he started on his picture.

"Uh, not really," Yugi said a little too quickly. He didn't want to pour out his thoughts to him, even though they were friends. They _had_ only known each other for a few days. If it had been a year or more, or in fact Joey, he would had spilled his thoughts and probably more.

Richard looked up, a curious look on his face though it was barely there, but he didn't pressure on. Instead, there was another expression, one more visible; amusement. "I meant to help pass the time. I knew you were thinking about something important since you had a glazed look in your eye, but I didn't mean about that. Was there anything you'd like to talk about, other than the Prom?" He jerked his head in the girls direction where they were discussing dresses.

Yugi sheepishly grinned, "Oh, I knew that." He said as a cover up. He then shook his head, "I have no idea what to talk about."

And just at that moment, Lucy had heard him and her eyes lit up as she turned around in her seat, "Ooh, are you going to be going to the prom?"

"Prom?"

She nodded her head in excitement, "Mmhm. You know, the big senior dance?"

"He just got here, Lucy," Eilene said, even though she was also curious. She made a lane change on the highway and speed up to pass someone before changing lanes to go back into the one she was just in.

"You never know," Lucy turned her head and shot back at her friend. Then she looked back to the boys and rephrased her question, "Alright, so did you have plans back in Japan? I remember you said something about having a girlfriend." She winked at him.

Slightly growing red in the cheeks, Yugi said, "Uh, y-yeah, I do have plans."

"Do?" Richard questioned, noticing the tense of the word. He looked back down at his drawing, which he was now slightly shielding away from peeping eyes.

Yugi nodded, "I'm hoping to get back to Japan before we have our prom. I promised Tea I'd take her." And he kept his promises.

"Tea?" Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Ooh, that's a pretty name. Do you have a picture of her on you by any chance?" She asked.

Yugi softly smiled as he pulled his wallet from his back pocket and opened it up. He produced a picture of him and his girl friend holding hands as they sat on the couch at his home. He handed it to Lucy who eagerly took it and examined it just as Eilene asked:

"When is that prom exactly?" She glanced in the mirror at her friend.

"June fifteenth." He answered.

She frowned, "That's quite a while away. When were you supposed to graduate?"

"The last day of school, which is the last day of June." He answered, (A/n making this up to fit my story) "We're a bit different about school than you guys are."

Without looking up from the picture, Lucy asked, "She's really pretty. You two make a cute couple." She looked up and smiled, meaning it. Yugi nodded his thanks and she quickly showed Eilene the picture before looking at it once more.

There were so many questions popping up in Eilene's mind, but she didn't know where to begin. Luckily, Richard asked one of the hundreds of questions she had, bringing her down to nine hundred and ninety-nine."So, are you going to be graduating here or there?" He paused in his drawing and glanced up for an answer.

Yugi didn't even hesitate on the answer as he blurted out, "There. I can't stand not graduating without my friends and brother. I will be back there before graduation and prom or die trying." Inside, he knew that was true. His father couldn't stop him from going back, even if he had put a gun to his head. He would still leave.

Richard looked back down, satisfied with the answer. The teen was determined to get back. As he started to draw, something nagged at the back of his mind, but he couldn't quite put a finger on it.

"Aw, so does that mean you're going to be leaving us?" Lucy asked, looking up from the picture she was studying. She jutted out her lip in a pout.

Looking sorry, Yugi nodded. "To be honest, I didn't want to come here, but I was forced to move. I promised my friend's I'd be back in time for graduation. And since I promised my girlfriend, I have to be there in time for prom too." Not wanted to say anything else on the topic they were currently on, he changed the subject, asking them, "So, when is you guys' prom?"

Boy did he just start a conversation that lasted the whole rest of the car ride to Austin. Beginning with their prom starting in one month, to being dragged along as a friend, to talking about dresses. Oh fun.

XxxxX

For nearly two hours, the four friends walked around Austin and went into almost every single store. Before they started their adventure, they ate at a hamburger joint called _Top Notch_ to gain energy for all of their walking. Now, after almost two hours, they were about to hit the exhaustion point, though none of them would admit it. They were teens with a 'lot of energy'.

"One last shop before we head back to the car," Eilene said and the other three agreed. In everyone's hands, were shopping bags. Most of them belonged to her and Lucy and being gentlemen, Yugi and Richard offered to carry some of them. Only four out of all of the bags belonged to the boys. In most of the bags were clothes and a few fun items. She noticed that Yugi had bought a bag for school and a few clothing items like black skinny jeans and a few shirts.

"Hey, let's stop here," Lucy said, pointing to a shop they were just about to pass. Everyone stopped and peered at the small shop. From the window, you could make out all of the toys and board games and more toys. "I still need to buy something for my sister or she'll kill me." She rolled her eyes and walked to the door and through, since the door was propped open.

The other three walked in after her into the cool air conditioning store. Even though it wasn't hot outside, just a nice Spring day, it still felt nice against their hot skin from all of the walking. Inside, the store was packed with all kinds of different toys ranging from stuffed animals to dolls to rocking horses to plastic type toys. There were only a few people in the shop as they browsed through the store.

As Richard and Eilene went their separate ways, Yugi walked around, enjoying the store. It made him think of when he was a little kid and how he loved to travel around in toy stores. Sometimes, as a treat, Grandpa would take him to the local toy store and for at least an hour, they would stay there as he looked at every single item stocked. Once or twice, grandpa had to literally pick Yugi up and drag him out of the store so the employees could close the shop up for the night.

Smiling at the memories, Yugi walked along the isle that contained stuffed animals. There were so many different kinds that you could make a zoo if you wanted. As he walked along, one particular stuffed animal caught Yugi's eye and he stopped to look at it. As he looked at it, a small smile started to tug at the corners of his mouth as he picked the animal up and examined it.

"Ooh, I am so going to buy this," he said and held onto the toy for later purchase as he continued his walk around the store. In his mind, he was picturing the moment when he'd give the present to the person it was intended for and couldn't help but grin like an idiot. Now, he couldn't wait to get back to his real home.

XxxxX

"Where the hell have you been?" Chokichi demanded the minute his son walked right through the door, an hour after his curfew. His arms were crossed at his chest and he stood in the middle of the living room, pausing from his pacing. Miyuki was near the couches in the background. She had been biting her nail in nervousment for the last hour and let out a sigh of relief to see her son alive and well. She grew curious in the few bags in his hands.

Yugi slipped his shoes off once the door was closed behind him and met his father's angry face. "I was out with some friends." He said as calmly as he could manage. He walked onto the carpet, intended to go to his room to drop his new things in his room.

"An hour after your curfew?" Choikchi said, moving to stop his son from leaving the room.

The teenager took a step back to look his father in the face. Fear welled up inside him but he continued to keep his face ridden of any fear it might show. "I wasn't paying attention to the time. And besides, we were in Austin and it takes an hour to get from there to here. By the time I realized what time it was, we were already on our way here and that was about an hour ago." Which was all true, but he didn't care at the time so he didn't mention it to his friends.

The man of the house face hardened into a deep scowl as he stretched his arm out and punched his child square in the jaw. "I don't give a damn if you noticed what time it was or not. I told you you were to be home at a certain time or there would be consequences to pay."

Given that little information, Yugi straightened up, resisting the urge to rub his aching jaw and looked around to where his mom stayed, standing. His eyes widened when he noticed a look of pain in her eyes and knew Chokichi had hit her because of his stupid move.

"For now on, you will come home straight after school." Chokichi said in an angry voice, causing Yugi to look back at him. "I don't give a damn if your new 'friends' want to take you to go sightseeing or whatever the hell you did today. You will come straight home, is that clear?"

Yugi remained quiet, glaring at the person who he was supposed to call father.

There was another punch, this time ending up in the stomach. A whooshing sound escaped the teenager as Yugi doubled over from the blow. Chokichi said in a now, icy tone, "Is. That. Clear?" His teeth were clenched and his words came out short and with a sense of command.

Breathing out a quiet 'yes', Yugi tired to regain the breath he had lost as he remained hunched over.

Satisfied with the answer, Chokichi turned to his wife and glared at her, "The same applies to you too; be home right after work. If you want to go somewhere, either call me or wait until I get home. Is that clear?"

"Yes," Miyuki answered, her voice full of impatience as she quickly made it to her son's side. She didn't even watch her husband leave the room as she whispered to her baby, "Are you alright?" Without waiting for an answer, she added, "Let's get you to your room." She grabbed the bags from her son's hand and helped her son walked to his room.

"I really... don't like him..." Yugi said through gritted teeth.

Miyuki chuckled without a sense of amusement in her voice. "Neither do I, sweetie. Neither do I."

XxxxX

Until next time y'all! :)

Kind of another filler, but I hope it wasn't that bad. Well, have a merry Christmas and a happy holidays. You won't be seeing me until after winter break is over. Reason is on my profile, if you can really call it a reason. :p See you guys soon!


	27. The Fortune Cookie

Happy New Years guys! My first chapter as of 2012!

Lisa: How does that make you feel?

Awesome! This chapter is a bit slow... kind of. But, there's a surprise in it! I hope you enjoy it!

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Just my own characters. :) **

**Chapter Twenty-five**

A Week and Some Odd Days Later:

"Hey, Yugi, wait up!"

The final bell had rung, just ending third period. Students scurried away from their classroom, in a rush to get to their next class while some just took their time, talking with their friends. Those ones, were paired up in groups, almost taking up the whole walkway so it seemed impossible to pass them, unless you wanted to venture out on the other side and be swept away by the traffic coming from the other direction.

Yugi slowed down his fast pace and waited until Lucy had caught up with him. Third period was P.E. for both of them and they usually walked together to go meet up with Eilene and Richard so they could hang out during their off period. But today, Yugi just wanted to go home so he had rushed out the door. Ever since the day he had gone to Austin, his father would check up on him to make sure he had gotten home twenty minutes after school ended. Chokichi didn't remember about Yugi having off periods both days, so he didn't have his soon come home earlier.

"Man, I thought I'd never catch up with you," Lucy slightly panted when she caught up with her friend and started to walk beside him.

Yugi smiled an apology as he said, "Sorry, I just wanted to get out before the athletes came." He was talking about the Football players who would make it impossible to get out of your class when they came by. You usually had to wait until they all past by before you could enter the hallway.

Lucy nodded in understanding, "True. But hey, do you wanna hang with us today?" She asked, indicating herself, Eilene and Richard. "We're going to Eilene's house today to do homework and play some video games." She wasn't looking forward in playing the games, but she wanted to go so she didn't have to go home so soon.

The tri-haired teen shook his head after a moment's hesitation. He really wanted to go, but he needed to be by himself for a while before he headed home. He had decided earlier to take a walk around town to clear his mind.

"I'd love to, but I have to get home right after school."

"Again?" Lucy raised an eyebrow. This was the fourth time he used this excuse. "Is there something you're suppose to do at home?"

"Not really," Yugi said truthfully, "But, in a way, I guess I'm kind of grounded." Which made sense if you really looked at it.

The red head girl tilted her head a bit to the side as she glanced over at him. They were close to making it to the outside when she said, "Huh, for some reason, you don't seem like the type of kid to get grounded."

Amused, Yugi looked over to her and questioned her why she thought that.

"Well, you're nice and always cheerful. You're also polite. You just don't look like the type of kid to get grounded. If you don't mind me asking, why _did_ you get grounded?" Her curiosity sparked a little as she pushed open one of the double doors to go out side to the front of the school.

Yugi grabbed the other door and continued to talk. "Just little things like not asking my father if I can stay out late and not doing my chores." Which was true. He some times didn't do the chores 'fast' enough for his father. Like always, he did them right after supper or did something else that didn't take very long and then do the chores, but his father didn't like that. Apparently, he wanted them done earlier. Yugi had argued that he waits until everyone is done with their dish to wash them so he could get them done all at one whack and not waste soap, but, his father would always find an excuse.

Lucy nodded in understanding, "Ah, my parents do the same thing. So, how long are you grounded for?"

He shrugged, "No idea; my father never told me." They came to a stop and looked at one another. "But, when I'm ungrounded, I'll tell you." He smiled and took a small step back to show that he needed to leave. "See you tomorrow." He waved.

She waved back and nodded, "See you tomorrow." She turned around and started to walk towards the student parking lot.

Yugi waited until Lucy had disappeared from sight before turning around and ventured towards the town. Maybe that grocery store, H-E-B had something he could buy and nibble on. He was sort of hungry since he didn't have a big lunch today; an apple and a water bottle. Feeling his back pocket to make sure his wallet was there, which it was, he started to walk across the grass to the sidewalk. At least the school and the town weren't that far apart from one another.

XxxxX

The grocery store wasn't as packed as it usually was when Yugi walked into it. There were a few people with little kids with them as they walked around the store and a few teenagers wandering around, having nothing better to do so they roamed a grocery store. Some of the adults with little kids were dressed in suits or something nice and professional that Yugi assumed they just got off work. Seeing them made him hope he wouldn't bump into his father here. That would be really bad.

Having only been here once, it took him a while to figure out where everything was, even by reading the signs labeling the aisles. After about ten minutes of searching, he came to the snack isle and stood in the middle of the walkway to look at all of his choices. Luckily, no one was on this particular isle, so he didn't have to move or get in people's way.

'_Hm... Out of all of the snacks here, I have come to the only two things that sound good: Sunchips and Cheetos.' _He couldn't decided which one to get. He didn't want to spend to much money to buy them both, so he needed to choose. But which one to get? '_Now I understand Joey's pain of having difficulty in choosing.' _He sighed and ended up choosing the Cheetos.

"Now onto finding the drink section." He muttered softly to himself, knowing that would be an easier task since he already knew what he wanted: Dr. Pepper. The delicious soda that he was becoming addicted to. He turned around and noticed someone entering the aisle he was just leaving. He didn't pay the person any attention as he passed her. But, she paid him attention.

"Well well well, if it isn't the King of Games," She said, amused.

Yugi slightly froze, letting out a quiet sigh. _'Oh great, not again.' _He thought. He stopped and turned around, putting on a fake smile. But, as soon as he caught sight of her, his expression turned to shock and surprise. The woman standing in front of him was dressed in purple leather boots that came to her knees and had a purple mini skirt on. For her shirt, she wore a strapless white top and had her purple jacket on, though there were no sleeves for the jacket. The thing that made her recognizable was her sharp violet colored eyes and her waist long, blond hair. Slung over her shoulder was a rather large purse, though it looked more like a bag. Woman and their purses.

"Mai?" He exclaimed, trying to recover his expression.

Said name smiled, still amused. "'Sup, kiddo?" She still looked the same as ever, maybe just a little older. And she still favored the color purple.

"What're you doing here?" Yugi managed to ask, finally over the shock at seeing one of his friends that he hadn't seen for a few months.

She rolled her eyes and answered him, "The question is, what're _you _doing here?" Before he could answer, she looked at the bag of chips in his hand and said, "Why don't you put those back and we can go eat somewhere? I saw this Chinese restaurant just a few stores down and I am dying to get something to eat."

Yugi smiled and rolled her eyes. He definitely knew why Joey had fallen for her besides her personality.

About ten minutes later, the two friends were sitting at the little restaurant called _Lucky Dragon_. They had already ordered their drinks and something to eat, Mai getting a big plate of Orange Chicken and a plate of egg rolls while Yugi got a small plate of Sesame Chicken.

As they were waiting for their orders to arrive, Yugi began the conversation, "So, what're you doing here?" He was curious. He knew she traveled, but here was never something he'd picture.

Mai leaned back in her chair, crossing one leg over the other as she got comfortable. She shrugged and said, "Well, my car was about to run out of gas so I needed to get to a gas station as soon as possible. I saw the _Shell _over here and decided that one. And I went to the store, heb –,"

"H-E-B." He corrected her, hiding a smile. He knew the background of the store and didn't want to seem like a smart-alec but knew it was better to correct her with the name.

Mai raised an eye brow but continued on, correcting herself, "Right, H-E-B, to get something to eat when I bumped into you."

"That's not exactly what I was talking about," Yugi said. But it did explain why he saw her in the grocery store.

"Huh? Oh, right. Eh, just visiting a friend that lives in Dallas." She shrugged like it was no big deal. "I haven't seen him for a while and I thought I'd drop by to visit." She leaned forward a bit so she could rest her arms on the table and leaned against the table, looking like she was about to tell a secret. Her violet eyes stared into his amethyst ones as she asked, "So, now that you know why I'm here, what're you doing here? Where's the pharaoh. And most importantly, where's Joey?" There was a spark in her eyes as she mentioned the blond's name.

Yugi looked down at his Dr. Pepper and took a small sip, "It's a long story," he mumbled just loud enough for her to hear.

Mai took notice in his change of tone, but tried to enlighten the mood when she said, "Well, I've got all the time in the world."

Yugi looked up and smiled. He nodded his head and explained his story.

Their food came while Yugi was explaining and Mai took no time in digging in. She wasn't lying when she said she was hungry. He took a couple of bits as he continued to explain. In between pauses, Mai would ask him how he was faring and other simple questions. He would answer honestly, feeling relaxed and calm that he was finally able to explain the situation he had to endure for the last two weeks.

Yugi had finished his small bowl at the same time Mai finished her plate and her egg rolls. She took a sip of her Root Beer and pushed the plate away from her. Not a moment later, a waitress came and took the dishes away.

"It sounds like you're going to be here for a while," she commented, after thinking over what she had just been told. Yugi looked at her questioning, not really understanding what she meant by that, so she explained, "You said you still haven't figured out the reason. I highly doubt your father will tell you anytime soon. If he hasn't told you yet, then he isn't planning on telling you."

"I'm not to sure about that," he shook his head to disagree. He stirred his drink with his straw and said, "It seems like he's getting closer to what he wants done so he's going to tell me soon."

"And how long do you think that'll take?"

Yugi was silent. He looked away and watched the waitress going to a few other tables, taking orders or cleaning up some dishes.

Mai nodded, "I've never witnessed these types of situations, so I'm not going to be much help, but I can say is that you're going to need to take action." He looked back and found her eyes on his. "You're going to have to figure things out on your on. A suggestion is you might want to go –,"

"Go through his mail?" Yugi guessed. Mai nodded her head, not showing her surprise that he had already guess her solution. Maybe he had already done that but it didn't get him anywhere. But, what he said next proved that to be wrong, "Someone already suggested that to me. But, I'm not the type to snoop through things."

She snorted and nodded her head in agreement, "That's definitely true. But still, it may not be in your nature, but you're gonna have to do it. You never know what the mail can contain."

The slightly younger teen shook his head, "Bakura told me to do the same a while back. The only reason I haven't done it yet is because my father is always in his office, and that's where he keeps all of the mail."

Mai bit her lip as she thought of something. "Why not go into the office when he isn't there?"

"Because when he's not there, I'm usually not." He answered. "While he's at work, I'm at school. Over the weekend, he keeps the room locked because he doesn't want anyone snooping. I've actually tried that once." He admitted.

"Hm..." She took another sip of her soda as she stared out the window. Something suddenly just clicked in her mind and she looked back at him, "Wait, aren't you supposed to be in school right now?" She looked at her phone that was on the table next to her drink to check the time. "If I remember correctly, school doesn't end until like... four, if you're in high school. Well, sometimes it's different. And it's close to that time." She frowned and then gave him a sly smile, "Wait, are you skipping?"

Yugi rolled his eyes and almost snorted, but kept it in, "Oh yes," he sarcastically said, "I'm totally skipping. But no, I have an off period. That's why I'm here talking with you."

Mai shrugged, about to be proud of her friend. That would have been something fun to tell Joey.

Suddenly, the time just occurred to Yugi. "Oh, if it's almost four, then I need to go." He looked around for the waitress and when he found her, he nodded to her and she nodded back. In a few seconds she was over with their bill and two fortune cookies. He brought out his wallet and left a twenty on the table to pay for their meals and left the rest for a tip. "I need to get home." He looked over to Mai as she was frowning at him. "What?" He innocently asked.

"You don't have to pay for me," she said.

He shrugged, "Consider it my treat." He then smiled.

She weighed her options, "Well, alright then; don't have to tell me twice. But, let's read out fortune first." She grabbed one cookie and Yugi grabbed the other. They opened it at the same time and she read out loud, "_'An unexpected visitor will appear in your future.'" _She looked up at her friend and snorted, "Well, my fortune already came true." She ate half of her cookie and asked, "what does yours say?"

Yugi had read his over twice, feeling like this cookie was meant for him. It made sense and what it said, fit what he was going through perfectly.

"Hello, earth to Yugi." Mai said when she didn't receive an answer.

Yugi shook his head, "What? Oh, mine says, '_Gold is in your future.'"_ He shrugged, showing that he didn't know what it meant and stuffed the small piece of paper into his pocket. He grabbed his broken cookie and eat it before standing up. "Let's get going."

A couple of minutes later, Mai put her car in park right outside Yugi's fathers home. She turned to him and said, "You take care of yourself, you hear? I want to know if anything bad happens and when you do get home. Make sure to call me when you get back home." She had a look of concern for her friend. "I know you want to stay here, but please, be careful."

Yugi nodded. When he was explaining to her about his side of the story, he purposely left out the part where his father would beat him and his mother up. He didn't want to worry her. "I promise I will."

"And don't forget, you have Bakura here to help you too. I don't like him and don't trust him, but, he's all you got besides your mother. Just make sure you keep in touch with him."

"I know. I was going to find a way to call him when I get the chance. And with the weekend coming up, I have all of the time too." He smiled.

Mai nodded. She leaned over and hugged her friend tightly. "Please be careful, Yugi. I don't want you to get hurt. Find out what your father is doing and leave before things get out of hand. I was going to be calling Joey and talking with him, if you don't mind. I'm sure you haven't had a chance to talk to him since the last time you called Atem. I'm sure they're all worried about you."

Yugi hugged her back. "Tell them I say hi and I'm doing alright and that I'll be home before they know it." They parted and he gave her one more smile before unbuckling his seat-belt and opened the car door. "You be careful too, Mai." He said just before he closed the door. He stepped onto the sidewalk and saw her smile just before she put her car back into drive and drove off.

For a couple of seconds, Yugi watched his friend drive away, wishing he could just go with her. But, he couldn't leave his mom here to deal with his dad. Thinking about that, he remembered about the fortune in his pocket and brought it back out. He read the little words out loud, knowing for a fact, this fortune was meant for him. He didn't tell Mai what was really written on it because he saw the fortune as something personal.

"_'Sometimes, you just have to step up to them, even if it means getting hurt.' "_

XxxxX Till next time!

Oh, just for a little background information, in my mind, Mai is like two, maybe three years older than Joey. I go more for two. I hear she's supposed to be like a lot older, but, bleh, I don't like that. So, in my story, she's like nineteen. :) Just so you know.

Lisa: Wow, I forgot you were going to add Mai in this.

I kind of own it my readers. I was reminded from a fellow reader of mine that in _His Decision _I had mentioned Mai had visited, but never wrote her. I just mentioned it. So, tell me what you guys think!


	28. Talking With A Criminal

Hey! I actually like this chapter! It highlights some fun things!

Lisa: Yes! And we have something very important for you.

Yes! There's a special guest in this chapter! I'll explain more after you read so for now,

Both:Happy reading!

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!**

Chapter Twenty-Six

As gently as he could, Yugi wiped the excess water off of his body. He had to be careful to dab the towel over his stomach so he wouldn't aggravate the bruises that littered his torso and top of his arms. The fresh bruises he received last night shone bright purple with blue on the outside while some of his old ones were a yellowish tint. Though, even his old ones were stinging when he dabbed his skin dry.

"As long as these don't turn into scars, I'll be okay," he whispered to himself as he folded the towel and placed it on the rack before grabbing his pants and pulling them on. Luckily, none of his bruises ever turned into scars, even when he was younger, but that didn't stop him from worrying. He once read online about bruises. The only way for them to leave a scar was to somehow penetrate the skin to cause blood. He did have a few of those wounds right now, made when his father accidentally scratched him when he was punching him. So, he was worried.

He wiped the steam off of the mirror in the small bathroom and checked his face. He was looking for any signs of swelling or a purple touch. After a thoroughly examination, he was relieved not to find one.

"That's a relief. I could have sworn a bruise was going to show up," he softly said to himself, his hand lightly touching his right cheek where his father had slapped him, a little too hard. "Now I won't have to cover anything up."

Gathering his clothes from where he left them, he exited the bathroom and turned the light off. He went straight to his room to drop the clothes in the basket and then get his socks and shoes. He put them on in his room and collected his wallet and his new house key his father had given to him a couple of days ago.

"Going somewhere?" A voice crept into the room, causing Yugi to slightly jump.

Without bothering to turn around, he nodded his head. "I am going into town to meet up with some friends of mine. Is that a problem?" He casually asked. He then turned around and faced his father.

Chokichi watched his child with a hard look. He could tell his kin was up to something, but he couldn't tell what. He shrugged his shoulders and answered him, "Will there be a problem?"

Yugi shook his head, feeling confident before his father and not cowering down. "I'm just meeting a friend of mine; we're just going to hang out at the arcade or go to his house or something." He met his father's cold blue eyes and could make out his father trying to see if he was lying or not.

"What friend?" He asked, not seeing any sort of lying. He had become real good at detecting if his son was lying or telling the truth. Most of it was because his son was bad at it.

He shrugged, "One from school. His name is Richard."

"Fine. But you will be back in two hours." Chokichi said. He didn't notice that Yugi had been lying to him about which friend. He turned around and stalked away from the room. There was some work he needed to get finished.

XxxxX

_Ring Ring Ri—_

"_Hello?" _A grouchy voice answered the phone.

Yugi rolled his eyes but said, "What, were you still asleep?" He looked at the clock on his wrist to see that it was almost ten o'clock in the morning.

The voice on the other line let out an annoyed growl and demanded, "_Who the hell is this and how did you get my number? I swear, if you're prank calling me, I'll hunt you down and -,"_

"Relax, it's just me." Yugi said and leaned a bit closer to the pay phone he was using. A young lady was waiting in line to use the phone and had given him a weird look when she heard what was being said on the other line. He gave her an apologetic smile and looked away.

"… _What do you want, Mutt?" _Bakura asked, recognizing the voice now. "_And I'll let you know, yes, I was still asleep. It's only fricken ten am! Why are you calling me at this time! It's too early!" _There was a loud yawn on the other end, ruining the angry moment he was trying to make known.

Yugi shook his head and said, "A lot of people wake up at that time. Some even wake up when you go to sleep. But, that doesn't matter. Which town are you in?" He asked. He lied to his father about hanging out in this town. He wanted to get away and the perfect place to go to was to be with Bakura. He wouldn't admit it, but he was also getting a bad headache from not being around his new Dark.

Place is called Council

"_The city right next to yours," _He said in an annoyed voice.

Yugi rolled his eyes and said, "Yes, I figured that much. Just hurry up please; I have a time limit."

Bakura's voice changed to one of amusement, "_O-h, a time limit huh?" _He chuckled, "_He has you on a short leash, huh? What has little Yugi been doing to make his father give you a time limit?"_

Keeping his voice light and calm, he said through gritted teeth, "It doesn't matter. Will you please give me the address?"

After five minutes of being taunt by the albino teen on the other end, Yugi managed to obtain the information on where Bakura was staying and what hotel he was at. He said his goodbyes and hung the phone up and turned to the lady still waiting patiently nearby. He gave her another apologetic smile and told her sorry for taking so long and then he left.

XxxxX

The bus ride to the town over took about twenty minutes. Yugi stared out the window, not really thinking about anything in particular. He just wanted to talk to Bakura for a while and see what was up with him. He never thought, in all of his life that he would go to Bakura for company. The tomb robber was the worst company to be in. But, right now, he was the only thing... person who made him feel at home.

"Bright side of things, he has a phone," He whispered to himself as the bus took the exit off of the highway. He wanted to talk to his brother or friends or grandpa for a while. He didn't know what they'd talk about, but he wanted to let them know he was doing fine.

Within five minutes, Yugi was walking off of the bus and walked a little ways from the bus stop area to look around. The town was a lot bigger than Breaksville, especially with all of the buildings standing tall everywhere. This was the town his father and mom worked. He didn't know exactly which places they worked at, he just knew this town was the one. The town Eilene, Lucy and Richard all lived in too. The town called Council.

Still not knowing which way to start looking for the hotel, Yugi walked over to an elderly women sitting on a bench, looking as though she was waiting for someone. He stopped about a foot or two from her and said as sincerely as he could, "Pardon me, ma'am, but I was wondering if you could help me find the hotel called Motel Six."

The women looked at him with a smile and said with a warm voice that reminded him of a fun, loving grandmother, "Just take that crosswalk over there," she said and pointed with her finger. Yugi followed with his eyes, "and it'll be the second left hand turn. You'll go down maybe a block or two and then you'll see the sign."

He turned back to her with a smile, "Thank you."

She nodded her head, "Good luck."

Yugi followed her easy directions and sure enough, he saw the big sign of the hotel. After looking both ways and crossing a street with a few cars, he made it over to the place. Bakura's room was on the second floor, room B-13. He quickly found the stairs and started them up. He had to walk to the end of the hallway before he found the door and knocked three short taps.

"Coming," A muffled voice came form the other side. Even with an two inch door standing in between them, Yugi could hear the annoyance that remained in his voice.

When the door opened, Bakura didn't even look to see who it was as he turned and walked away, leaving the person to basically invite himself in.

Yugi didn't care much though. He walked right in and quietly closed the door behind him. Once the door clicked, he walked into the living quarters of his 'friend' and noticed how Bakura had made himself right at home with clothes strewn everywhere and empty pizza boxes and soda cans littering the ground.

Bakura plopped down on the recliner, facing the TV and said, "Find a place to sit down and make yourself at home." He didn't take his eyes away from the box in front of him.

Yugi did as he was told and picked the couch as it was the closest thing to him. He had slipped his shoes off at the door so he curled up on the couch. The headache he had early, that wasn't really a bother, was now gone and he noticed that he was feeling better. He noticed from the corner of his eye that Bakura was feeling the same. He looked more relaxed and the crease on his forehead was gone.

Trying not to be noticeable, Yugi looked around the little mini apartment. Besides all of the clothes and trash everywhere, the place looked nice. There was a small kitchen and a bathroom. The room they were currently in was the only room, so this was also the bedroom. (The couch fold out into a bed). When he looked over to his 'friend', he noticed that he had made an attempt to look decent. His long white hair was damp from a shower and he was wearing a pair of jeans and some socks. He didn't have a shirt on yet, probably because he couldn't find a clean one, and he looked like he already had breakfast from a red plastic cup in his hand.

"What have you been doing for the last couple of days?" Yugi asked, curious.

Bakura shrugged, still not looking away from the TV, "Nothing really. Just stayed here the whole time." He took a sip from his cup and then added, "I've been surfing the web and been talking to friends of mine, but other than that, nothing."

Yugi nodded. He wouldn't admit it, but he'd rather go to school than be holed up here doing nothing all day but watch TV, eat, sleep and search the web. "Having fun while doing that?"

He shrugged once again, "Better than being at school." He took another sip.

For a couple of minutes, the two sat in silence. It wasn't awkward, but it wasn't uncomfortable. It was more of just a normal silence that they both wanted. It stayed that way for a while until Bakura asked, "So, any word from the pharaoh or any of the others?"

Shaking his head, Yugi said, "No. I'm not allowed access to to phones or computers at home or school. The phone call here was just so I could find out where you were staying at." He quickly added when he noticed Bakura about to ask him something.

"What about you, have you talked to anyone yet?"

"Nope. Why would I?" He responded. "I came here for certain reasons, one of them for getting some peace and quiet. Why would I call them?" He repeated his question.

Yugi bit his lip, understanding his reason. But he shrugged and asked, "You are planning to go back, right?"

The thief nodded his head and looked over to his adopted Light. "Duh. You don't expect me to stay here, do you?"

"Just making sure," Yugi said as Bakura returned his attention to the television. _'Though, I wonder how long he'll stay here.' _He thought, though he kept the question to himself.

It had been about thirty minutes since they spoke to each other. Not because they were ignoring one another, well, Bakura might having been ignoring Yugi because that's how he was, but because they didn't know what to say. During the time of quietness, Bakura had gotten up a few times to get something to nibble on or something to drink. They only thing he had said, was to tell Yugi if he wanted anything, it was in the fridge.

Now, with the show ending, Bakura yawn loudly and stretched his arms into the air. He had finished the contents of what was in his cup and crumpled it up and threw it on the ground with all of the other garbage.

"You have a big mess to clean up," Yugi observed.

Bakura shrugged, "That's what maids are here for."

Yugi rolled his eyes, wanting to tell him that that was rude and being lazy, but he knew his words would be lost of the albino teen, so he kept his mouth shut. Instead, he pulled his legs up to his chest so he could rest his chin on his knees. He still had about an hour and ten minutes left before he had to get home. He didn't know what he was going to do here for the remaining time, but he'd still rather be here than home. It was just his father at home. His mother was out having lunch with a friend she had made at work and wouldn't be back for a couple more hours. He would rather be somewhere where he wasn't doing anything than be in the company of his father. But still, what should he do?

As if reading his mind, Bakura threw a small object that landed next to him on the couch. Yugi looked over to the object and picked it up just as Bakura was saying, "Might as well call your family or whatever since you can't do it anywhere else."

Dipping his head in gratitude, Yugi opened the cell phone. He typed his brother's number in and before pushing the send button, he stood up from the couch. "I'm going to call outside, if that's alright." Bakura just nodded his head so Yugi made his way over to the door. He left his shoes where they were and exited the room, knowing he was just going to stand outside and not walk around.

He pushed send and waited while holding his breath. He didn't know why he did that, just knew he always did that. When the ringing sounded, he released his breath and closed the door behind him and went to lean against the railing. About the fifth ring, the answering machine came on with Atem's voice on the other end. Yugi bit his lip, and closed the phone, deciding not to leave a message.

Starring at the phone in his hand, Yugi wondered why his brother didn't answer. It was the weekend so he was allowed to answer. And it was only morning here. He looked at phone's clock and then mentally slapped his forehead. Duh, with it being close to eleven here, it was close to three o'clock am over there.

"Stupid..." He muttered to himself, totally forgetting about the time change. "Well, might as well leave him a message." He flipped the phone back opened and called his brother once again. Like before, the answering machine came on. After the little beep, Yugi said, "Hey, Atem! This is Yugi! Sorry I called at such an early hour but I didn't really get any other chance at calling. I just wanted to let you that I miss you and everyone else like crazy and hope you're doing well. I wanted to say that I'm doing fine and so is mom. Nothing has really been happening and I still don't know the reason on why I'm here. Kind of weird, huh? But, I'm getting closer to the truth, or well, kind of. Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it. Tell Jii-chan that I love him and I'll hopefully be able to talk to everyone soon. I love you!"

Yugi flipped the phone closed and closed his eyes. With the phone tightly secured in his hand, Yugi rested his arms on the railing so that his hands dangled over the edge. He took a deep breath, hoping that what he told his brother about being back before they knew it, was true.

"No, it is true," He suddenly said, snapping his eyes back open. "I'll be home sooner than later. I just have to think positive." Determination filled his eyes as he stared straight ahead of him and watched the morning traffic cruise around.

"That didn't take long," Bakura commented when Yugi came back in and handed him his phone back.

"I got the answering machine," Yugi said and sat down on the couch. "Kind of forgot that it's around three in the morning over there."

Bakura nodded. He didn't say anything as Yugi turned his attention to the TV. He resumed his position from earlier with his legs pulled up against his chest.

When a couple of minutes went by and Yugi's attention stayed on the TV, Bakura moved his head a fraction to look at his adopted Light. Something was nagging at him in the back of his mind, but he couldn't tell what it was. The Pharaoh's Light had something different about him. The aura around him was changing, though it was changing rather slowly. But, it was still changing.

He shrugged after a minute of not figuring out what was different. He returned his attention away from the other teen, forgetting about the nagging sensation in his head until it was gone.

XxxxX

"Look, I'm going to run to the store to buy something for supper," Chokichi announced from Yugi's bedroom door. He was standing in the doorway, watching his son lying on his stomach on his bed reading a book that was for school. Ever since Yugi had gotten home, he had stayed in his room, only leaving when he got hungry or needed to use the restroom. And that was two hours ago.

Without looking up, Yugi nodded his head. "Alright."

Chokichi glared at the boy, "Don't leave the house while I'm gone. Your mother should be home soon."

"Alright." He said once again and turned the page and continued reading.

Standing in the doorway for another minute or two, Chokichi watched his son, thinking he was up to something. Then, without another word, he turned around and walked away to the door with his key's in hand.

After hearing the front door closed and then being locked, Yugi marked his page and closed the book. His stomach was growling at him to get some food in him since the last thing he had eaten had been nearly over an hour ago.

"I thought fruit would keep you full for a while," he muttered to himself as he got up off of his bed and walked out of his room and into the hallway. He decided it was time for lunch.

In the kitchen, Yugi looked through the pantry and the fridge. Nothing seemed appetizing, not even the instant Ramen in a cup that he loved. He looked in the freezer and noticed all of the frozen foods such as pizza and TV dinners.

"Hm... I guess pizza it is," he said and grabbed a cheese and closed the door. After stripping the frozen food out of it's plastic, he placed the pizza on a pan and stuck it in the oven. He turned the oven on and set the timer for the correct amount of time and then leaned against the counter.

"What should I do for fifteen minutes?" He mumbled to himself as he tapped his fingers against the marble. He looked around for something to do. The clean dishes were already put away in their correct spot and there was no dishes that needed to be washed; they were washed earlier. "I guess I can read since I need to finish the next two chapters." Finally deciding what to do, he left the kitchen and went back to his room for his book.

Once the book was in his hand, he walked out of his room and was walking back to the kitchen to read near the cabinet when he noticed something out of place from the corner of his eye. The door to the office was slightly ajar.

Yugi stopped and looked at the office door. His heart in his chest beat a little harder than normal as he stared.

His dad wasn't going to be back for at least another twenty to thirty minutes. Maybe he could just peak around for a bit and find out anything useful before leaving. But, he didn't want to snoop through his father's things. It wasn't in his nature to go through other people's things without permission. But, he needed to know why he was here and in that office contained information he needed, or his father wouldn't keep the door closed and lock. But...

Suddenly, Yugi found himself at the door, trying his best to open the door wider without making any noise. Even though he was the only one home, he didn't like the idea of being loud, especially if he was doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing.

"It's now or never." He told himself, "It's just a quick peak around and then I'll be out of here without messing something up."

The office looked like any other office with a huge desk and with cabinets all around up against the wall. The thick blue curtain were covering the window so no light streamed through. The only light provided was the sunlight that came from the hall and the computer screen. The room was cold from the air conditioner and it smelled really good. A candle was burning near the computer, though it barely gave off any source of light needed.

Yugi flipped the light switch on in the room and the office was illuminated with light, making it easier to see things. He stepped forward until he was at the desk. There was a lot of paper work on the desk including work from his job, all sorts of bills and a few 'Note to self'. What caught his attention was a bank statement opened up on the desk, just waiting to be read.

Being quick, he walked around the desk and, after setting his book on the edge of the desk, and peered down at the paper and started to read it quietly to himself.

A frown was making itself known on his face as a crease appeared on his forehead. He was reading about loans that needed to be paid back to the bank by a certain day, and that day was coming up soon. There wasn't just only loans, but some others too. Looking away from the bank statement, he noticed some other bills and letters right next to it. For the house bill, besides saying how much he owned, there were some notes that said his payments were late. It wasn't just the house bill but the car, electric and water.

'_Is he not paying his bills?' _He thought. He looked around and found something that sparked his attention. From what he could read on the outside, it was mail from the bank. Even though the information was on the inside, Yugi picked it up and saw that it was already opened. Biting his lip, he reached in and grabbed the piece of paper and pulled it out.

After skimming it over, Yugi understood why his father wasn't paying the bills and why all of these loans were needed. His father didn't have enough money in his bank account to cover even half of the bills. He had been making Hot Cheeks to buy needed things like food.

"I,,, can't believe him." Yugi said out loud, feeling his face flush with anger. Now everything was making sense. He was a fool to have not seen things.

Before he could move, the phone let out a loud, ringing tone. Yugi froze and looked over to where the phone sat on the desk right next to the computer. The breath caught in his throat and his eyes widen with fear. He tried to let himself relax, realizing that it was only the phone that had scared the living out of him.

Knowing that he needed to get out of the office, Yugi folded the mail in his hand back to it's original position and slipped it back into it's cover. He tried to exact where he found it just as the phone stopped ringing and went to the message machine.

Since it wasn't any of his business, Yugi turned around and was about to exit the room when what the person said, made him stop.

"_I know you're there, Chokichi." _The masculine voice said, sounding annoyed. "_So why don't you just pick up the phone. Oh, that's right, you're too chicken to pick the phone up, isn't that right?" _There was a chuckle, but there was no humor in it. "_Kyo__ is still waiting. It's been almost three months since he gave you the ten grand. He allowed you to go on that trip to retrieve your son and you told him you would pay him back. Kyo is giving you one week to come up with the money or you won't be so lucky." _The other end of the phone clicked off, leaving a stunned Yugi starring at it.

"Ten grand?" He whispered, his eyes widening a bit. His mind was going a hundred miles per hour as the new information entered his head. But, he didn't have time to sort it all out as he hear a car door slam right outside the house.

Yugi nearly jumped out of his skin as he realized that was his father had come home early.

"Crap!" He panicked and fled out of the room, making sure he flipped the light switch off. He was out of the room and turned around to close the door like how he found it and then realized something; he left his book in the office. If he left it in there, his father would be angry and who knows what would happen. It would be better to have his father be in the dark about him entering the one place he was not allowed to go into.

Yugi ran back and grabbed his book just as he hear keys jingle in the door. His heart pounded in his chest as he urged himself to get out of the room but he felt frozen to the spot.

The top lock was unlocked and now it was just the bottom lock. The keys rattled in that one as well, turning to unlock it.

'_GO!' _A voice seemed to yell at him, unfreezing him from his stilled form. He raced out of the room and was closing the door just as the door opened.

Yugi backed away from it and pretended to have just come from his room, his eyes glued to his book as he opened it to look like he was reading. He tried to calm his racing heart and was having little luck.

When the door closed with a click, Yugi looked up, trying to play being normal off. He gave his father a curious look when he entered the living room. "You're home early," He said. He realized his voice sounded weak and cleared it a few times.

Chokichi eyed his son as he walked to the little table by the window. "Forgot the list." He said. He noticed his son looked a bit pale in the face and asked him in a suspicious voice, "What's wrong with you?"

Yugi blinked and responded a little too quickly, "N-nothing..." Realizing his mistake, he took a small, calming breath and repeated his answer with some more words, "Nothing is wrong. Just sort of bored, I guess." He held his book by his side and was holding it tightly, wondering if his father would realize that he had been in his office.

'_I know he's up to something. But what?' _Chokichi thought as he continued to watch his son.

Yugi stared right back, remembering that if he looked away or coward down, he would give his father the idea that he was weak and was doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing, or had done.

After a minute, Chokichi cleared his throat and was the first to look away. "Right, well, I'll be off." He turned around and left the house without saying anything more.

Once he was gone, Yugi walked as quickly to the oven as possible, placed his book on the counter and grabbed some oven mits from a drawer. Even though his pizza still had ten minutes left to be cooked, he opened the oven door and grabbed the pizza. He placed the still frozen pizza on the stove top and turned the oven and timer off. Taking the mits off of his hands, he turned around and exited the kitchen to go find his shoes.

XxxxX

Outside, Yugi didn't know where he was going. He didn't care what his father would do to him, all he knew was he needed to get away from the house for a while.

As his feet had a mind of it's own, Yugi couldn't help but think, '_I can't believe it. Well, It makes sense at least. My father brought me here because he knew I had money. He's in debt, and by the look look of things, he needs a lot of money. That's what I get for accepting challenges from Kaiba.' _

Within a few minutes, Yugi found himself at the local park. It was as big as the park back in Domino, maybe even bigger. There were many trees and picnic tables and wide open space to run around in. Towards the middle of the field was a play ground and little kids were playing on it as their parents were on the side lines, watching. There were benches throughout the grassy areas so Yugi decided to take the closest one and sat down. Just before he sat down, he noticed some people wearing orange suits that were picking up litter. Police officers were all around, watching the men do community service.

He sat down on one end of the bench and pulled his legs up to his chest. He laid his temple on his knees and hugged his legs close to him. He closed his eyes to help him think.

As he was thinking of how to break the news to his mom, he heard someone walk over to him. Assuming that it was either a little kid running around or someone just passing by, he ignored them. He needed to concentrate on what he was going to do. He had just found out (Well, he think he's right) why he was here and now, he needed to think about what he was going to do.

As he pondered the idea, someone with salt and pepper hair cut short watched him as he picked up an empty soda bottle and placed it in his black trash sack. He frowned, wondering what was wrong with the kid.

"Oi, are you alright?" He asked, in a deep, husky voice.

Yugi opened his eyes and looked to his right to find someone watching him. He lifted his head up and observed the man in the orange jumpsuit. The guy stood over six feet tall and was heavy set, not from being overweight, but from muscle. He had a light skin tone, even though he was Hispanic and he looked to be in his either early or middle forties. He had a crease on his forehead, looking like he was concerned for him.

"Uh... y-yeah." He answered as casually as he could. He glanced around the man in front of him and noticed the police officers were watching their prisoner, but made no attempt to move. '_Huh, weird. You would think they would be strict and not have the criminals talk to the pedestrians.' _

The man noticed where Yugi was looking and he looked along with him. "Don't worry, they know I won't try anything."

Yugi looked away, his cheeks slightly getting warm from embarrassment.

The man noticed when he looked back and chuckled, "Sorry, I don't mean to make you uncomfortable. I just noticed you sitting here and it looked like you had a lot on your mind." He turned around to go. "I'll just leave you be."

"You weren't making me uncomfortable," Yugi disagreed before the man could take a step away. He looked at his knees and said in a softer tone, "But, you were right when you thought I had a lot on my mind."

From his tone, the inmate glanced back over and nodded his head, "Did you... want to talk about it? I know that once you talk about something polluting your mind, you feel better. And if you need some advice, I can always try to help."

Yugi looked up with an raised eyebrow.

The man took the hint and rolled his eyes, "Just because I'm in jail, doesn't mean I can't help people."

He nodded his head in agreement, "True. Why don't you mind taking a seat, if you won't get in trouble." Yugi said, not knowing why he was talking to this man. It was weird and even though there were police swarming the park, it didn't feel safe to be talking with him. But, he felt like he could talk with this man.

"My name is Yugi by the way," He introduced himself.

The man nodded his head and after glancing over to the officers, sat down on the other end, making sure there was a space or two between them. "Nice to meet you, Yugi. The name's Coby. Coby Homes. I would offer you my hand to shake, but, that would just be pushing my luck." He said. He set his black trash back right next to him on the ground and left the gloves he was wearing on.

Yugi smiled, "I understand."

"So, uh, what's wrong?" Coby asked as he leaned back into the chair. He might be doing community service to lessen his jail time, but in a way, he was doing service by helping the kid. He would explain it to the police if they asked.

Yugi's smile faded and he rested his chin on his knees and stared around the park, his gaze resting on the playground where kids were playing. "Family issues." He said, his mind plaguing with the thought.

Coby nodded, his face full of understanding, "Are you having a fight with your parents? I know a lot of kids come over here to think about things."

"Uh... Kind of," Yugi admitted and then he paused and looked over to Coby. "Kid?" He asked, his nose scrunching up, "How old do you think I am?"

Coby titled his head a little in confusion. He looked at the boy beside him and guessed, "Well, by your appearance, you look young. But, you don't have enough little kid-ness in you to look really young. I can't tell how tall you are, so I'm ranging either you're in middle school or just started high school."

Yugi groaned and dropped his head on his knees. "I'm seventeen!"

Eyes widen in shock, Coby quickly tried to cover up his mistake, "Seventeen? Oh, geez, I'm sorry. I would never have known that."

There was a moment of an awkward silence. Coby shifted in his seat, uncomfortable by his mistake while Yugi tried to hide a smile.

After a minute, Yugi was the one to end the silence and said, "I'm more or so having a fight with my father. He... did some things and I'm just finding out his intentions." He didn't feel very safe exposing his true thoughts, not wanting anything bad to happen.

Coby nodded and waited for more.

"You see, I used to live back in Japan with my mom, brother and grandpa. I had never known my father, only hear a bit about him. I didn't even know what he looked like," Yugi said, his voice having a bit of bitterness in it. He wished he had known about his father when he was younger, but he knew why his mom and grandpa kept it from him, so he didn't hold it against them.

Coby's eyes slightly widened, surprised that the boy next to him had never seen his own father before. He used to have a son of his own, before he died, and he couldn't help but feel a bit angered about if his wife had not allowed him to see his own son. Before he could ask or say anything, Yugi continued.

"It wasn't until just a couple of weeks ago, my father had visited me and my family. I thought he was here because he wanted to meet me but then soon found out his real intentions; he wanted to take me and my mom back with him to Texas, here. He never told us why though."

"And he just told you why?" Coby guessed.

"Kind of. I went into his office today and sort of looked around." He said, feeling a bit bad. But, then he remembered what he found and the bad feeling left him almost immediately. "I found some information he had kept from us.

"Like I said, he never told us why he wanted me and my mom to go with him. So, when he told me and my mom that we're coming here with him, naturally, we refused. There was a few words exchanged and in a day or two, my father forced us to go with him." He left out the abuse and threats, feeling like they were extra information. "He took me from my home, from my friends without even telling me why."

The inmate nodded his head and asked when there was a pause, "So, not trying to be rude or pry, but why didn't you want to go with your father? It was your first time meeting and yeah, I knew you didn't want to leave and he didn't tell you the reason but..." He left his question hanging, feeling like he didn't need to continue.

Yugi caught on and said, "Well, I had found out from my mom why I didn't know anything about my father. He..." He mentally frowned. Should he tell him the real reason? It wasn't like Coby was going to gossip about this to anyone. Well, that he knew of. Coby didn't seem like the type to gossip. Finally deciding that he was going to tell the truth, he said, "My father, when I was being born, had been abusing my mom. He was hitting her and said he didn't want the child anymore." Coby's eyes narrowed dangerously. "He had hit my mom when I was allowed to go home and that was it. My grandpa had told him to leave and never to come back. My father did as his own father said and left. None of us had seen him until seventeen years later.

"And about twenty minutes ago, I found out why my father had come to Japan, forced me and my mom to come with him and why he never said anything to us." Yugi said. "He's in debt. I don't really know how much he's in, but I know it's a lot."

Coby frowned, starting to understand the boy's back story. Or at least, part of it. "If he's in debt, why would he take you? I know you can get good Income tax from having kids, but not a lot."

Yugi watched as a little girl was playing on the playground and wasn't watching where she was going and fell. Unfortunately, she was on the side of the playing area and ended up falling off of the whole playground. Though, she was lucky the fall wasn't so big. As she started wailing (not that he could hear it), the mother and father who were talking with one another on a bench, heard their child and came rushing over. The father picked his little girl up in bridal style, as her mom checked for any blood. From what Yugi could see, they didn't find any or any broken bones, just a hurt girl. The mom kissed the hurting spot and smiled while the father started to tickle the little girl to bring her mind away from the hurt and to something funny.

He smiled and then answered the question, "I don't know if you know, but have you ever heard of the card game known as Duel Monsters?"

Coby thought for a minute. "Isn't that the game Maximillion Pegasus created?"

Yugi nodded, "That's the one. Well, I play that game and have won many tournaments including scholar ships and prizes. So you can say I have a lot of money in my bank account."

"Hm... I can't say I've played the game, but there's tournaments?" He asked, amazed. He shook his head to get back on track. "So, because you have all of this money in your account, your father thinks he can just take it because he is your father?"

Yugi nodded once again.

"I don't know about you, but he can't touch your money, not if he isn't on your account."

"Exactly." Yugi agreed. "My grandpa is."

There was a moment of silence. The two were thinking things over and Yugi started to feel better.

Coby was the first to break the silence, "So, why haven't you gone home yet? If you have money in your account and your father brought you here against your will, why not just leave the very next day when your father wasn't home?"

"Well, I was trying to figure out why my father brought me here in the first place," Yugi explained. "And now that I know, I can't leave just yet."

"Why?"

Yugi looked away from the park and over to Coby, "I actually just realized I was missing something. I can't touch the money in my account until I'm eighteen."

"Your mom?"

He shook his head, "She's not listed on my account because of certain reasons. Just my grandpa is."

Coby nodded, seeing that a problem. "Alright, so when is your birthday?"

"June fourth." Yugi said in a sulky tone.

"Oo, you still have about a month left."

"I know..." He couldn't believe he had to spend another month and some odd days here. He wish he was able to just access his account money and be over with it. But, at least now he could think of some way to get home.

The two stayed in a peaceful silence, both of them having a lot of things on their minds. When Yugi noticed that a lot of time had past, he sat straight up on his seat and leaned his weight forward just a bit. "Well, I have to get home. I know for a fact that my father will be home and I think my mom will be there now too."

Coby nodded his head and gathered his bag from the ground. "Alright." They both stood up and faced one another. "Well, I hope things turn out better for you and you're able to get back home."

Yugi nodded his thanks and said, "I don't know anything about you, but I hope your sentence is almost over. You're a nice man. Thanks." He smiled and dipped his head. "Well, I guess, see you around." He waved his hand a bit and started to walk away.

Coby held his hand up in farewell and turned around to go pick up some more trash. The officers on duty watched him and shrugged, wondering what he had been up too.

As Yugi made his way home, he frowned and knew that when he confronted his father, things were going to go down hill. But, what's a few more bruises?

"A month left. I think I can tough it out for that long." He said to himself.

XxxxX

Till next time! :) This is kind of like a cliff hanger!

Lisa: So, what did you think? Now we finally can tell you why we had put that Author's note about this story and The Kidnapper not being the same story. They aren't!

We just wanted to have fun and sort of... sort of combine stories. Don't be mad! They're not the same. I just remembered y'all really liked Coby and I said, 'What the hay? Let's add him and spice things up!'

I hope you liked it!


	29. A New Sickness?

Hello! I would like to thank and dedicate this chapter to** Youngbountygirl! **She gave me the idea for Atem and even went out of her way to go researching for me. X3 I never would have thought about the idea if it weren't for her, so yay!

So you know, when it comes in time for the changing POV, it will start out with before Yugi had called and left Atem a message. :P

Lisa: We do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or any of its characters! If we did, oh boy, there'd be a lot of different things happening.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

**Yugi's POV**

The afternoon sunlight casted a shadow on the door as Yugi stood in front of it, trying to collect his thoughts before entering the house. He knew his father was home, by the car parked in the front and he had a feeling his mom was home also. He could hear voices being raised in the house and as much as he wanted to barge in through the door, he knew he needed to pause and think about what he was going to say.

The walk here from the park had given him a pretty good script on what he was going to say. He knew most of it was going to change when he encountered his father, but he had an idea of what to say and that was all that mattered.

"Deep breath…" He muttered to no one in particular. He did as he said and slowly exhaled and did it one more time. Nerves were starting to eat his insides up and he needed them to go away. If not, things might not go so well. He needed to look tough just as much as act it. He was standing up to his father, calling him out, and he needed to be calm, collected, and not a wimp.

Taking another minute, Yugi managed to half his nerves. Then, he turned the door knob and entered the house.

Awaiting him, in the middle of the room, was his parents. They were in the middle of an argument that had his mom in tears. Tears of anger or tears of fear, he couldn't tell. When he closed the door behind him and took a few steps into the house, they stopped their heated conversation and at the same time, both turned to him.

Much like the night Yugi had come home from his sightseeing in Austin, his mother gave off a sigh of relief while his father had a dangerous look to him. His eyes were cold and hard and he curled his lip in hatred.

"Where the hell have you been?" He demanded in a softer voice then he had used when he was yelling.

Yugi walked closer to him and said in a calm voice, "I needed some air." He said it like it was the simplest explanation in the world. He came to a stop a few feet from the man. He cast a look towards his mother, noticing that she wanted to stand by his side, but the man of the house would stop her before she could even move one foot. So, she stayed where she was and sent him a silent question.

_Are you okay? _The look asked.

He gave a small nod of the head before returning his eyes back to his father.

"Needed some air my ass," Chokichi growled. "I told you to stay here and you disobeyed me. Not only that, but you left food out, causing it to spoil." He took a step towards his son and a dangerous look passed through his eyes.

Yugi stood his ground, not allowing himself to take a step backwards, even though he was tempted too. His father was getting to close to him, invading his space but if he allowed himself to step back, he would be giving his father the honor of knowing he was scared.

Chokichi stopped when he was a foot and a half away. "I'm sick and tired of you rebelling." He said, his voice lowering a notch. "You've been slacking on your chores, going against the rules and lying. Tell me, what should I do for your punishment? I need something that will work this time because knocking you out isn't doing anything."

Yugi met his father in the eyes and used the same tone of voice as his father, "Let me and my mom go home."

A smile danced at the corners of the man's face as he was amused by the answer. "You are home."

"No. Home as in back in Japan. Home as where Jii-chan is. Home as in where my friends and school are waiting. Home as where my brother is!" His voice had risen with each sentence and he couldn't stop himself. "This is not my home!" He gestured around the room to indicate what he was talking about. "No matter what you say, this will never be my home. This is just a place to me where I just happen to be living for the time being."

Chokichi felt like slapping the child but for some reason, he resisted the urge to. For some reason, his son was changing and sticking up for himself and yelling back. In a way, he sort of felt proud. But, that didn't mean anything. He just stared at his son as he continued to talk.

"I know why you brought me and mom here," Yugi said, getting a raised eyebrow from his father and a curious look from his mom. "You're broke and in debt. You need to pay off bills but with no money, it's hard to do that. Yes, I went into your office because you left it opened." He said when he caught sight of his father narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

"I thought I -," Chokichi started to say but Yugi ignored him and continued to talk over him.

"And do you want to know what's funny about this whole thing? You brought me here for no reason." He couldn't help but have a small smile on his face, even though on the inside, his mind was in chaos. "You knew I had a lot of money in my account so you thought you could just take the money away from me and pay your bills off, since you know, we're _family. _But, guess what? Mom's name isn't on my account."

Chokichi frowned. He didn't see that one coming. He turned to look at his wife and asked in a tight voice, "Your name… isn't on his account?"

Miyuki shook her head, hiding a smile on her face. "No, it isn't. Since I was traveling a lot, I asked Solomon to have his name on Yugi's account in case something ever happened. It's a good thing I did that."

Chokichi paused, anger appearing on his face. He had thought Miyuki's name was on the account since she was the mother. He never took into account that his father's name would be on the account. But, he was going to have to work around that. He needed that money and he was going to get it one way or another.

He rubbed his chin in thought, wondering what he should do. But, as he was thinking, he noticed the look on his son's face, that look that said he won. That just angered the man more as to where he reached out and slapped the boy across the face with the back of his hand.

"Wipe that look off of your face." He growled and turned around. "If you need me, I'll be in my office."

Yugi regained his composer and watched his father leave the room. He smiled. Things were going to get better soon.

As soon as Chokichi left the room, Miyuki walked over to her son and hugged him tight, "Oh that was something."

Yugi nodded and hugged her back. "Yes, that was. I don't think I ever want to do something like that again." His knees started to shake and he buried his face in his mom's shoulder, wishing that he could just hide there forever.

"What're we going to do now?" Miyuki wondered out loud as she started to caress her son's hair. She laid her head on top of his and pondered on this thought.

"We're going to have to stay here for a while longer," Yugi said, glumly. He could feel his mom pulling back, knowing that she was going to ask 'what for' so he told her, "Dad can put claims on me since I'm still seventeen and he's my father. If I'm eighteen, then I'm free to do whatever I want. We're going to have to stay for at least a month more." The only question is, could they wait that long?

**Atem's POV**

Atem fell into bed that night, completely exhausted. He was shivering uncontrollably and reached for a blanket beside him. He had to lift himself up to drag the rest from underneath him. Even with the small movement, his arms started to shake from the strain and when the blanket came free, he fell back, resting against the pillow and mattress. Slowly, he wrapped his upper body in the softness of the blanket and felt a little warmer.

It was barely even seven o'clock and he was already in bed, though he wasn't dressed for it. He was still wearing his school's uniform with a jacket on top. He didn't even eat dinner yet and he was already in bed.

"What is wrong with me?" He moaned and turned his head until his face was in the pillow. He still felt cold and without warning, his teeth began to chatter the way Yugi's did when it was winter and he was walking to school. His shivering continued on and he blindly searched for his comforter with his hand before wrapping it around his body.

It was weird. This morning, he was fine. Besides him having a random headache that popped up when he woke up and stayed with him the entire day, nothing seemed to be wrong with him. Or, not that he had noticed. It wasn't until an hour before school let out he was starting to feel bad. His headache increased and he felt tired. Like all of a sudden he was about to collapse due to complete and total exhaustion. If it hadn't been for Tristan walking right next to him, he probably would have fallen and hurt himself. But, that wasn't the only thing. When he was talking, he started to mumble and then had problems with keeping the conversation going. He didn't know why. It was never in his character to mumble or have difficulty talking.

"Maybe you're coming down with something," Tea's voice echoed around his mind. She had told him that earlier today when he was caught laying his head down on the table.

"Must be that…" He mumbled and felt a shiver run down his spine. He tightened the covers around him, wishing that the cold would just go away.

When he had gotten home an hour ago, grandpa was still in the shop, dealing with customers, so he didn't notice his grandson looking bad. They exchanged hi's before Atem had disappeared into the shop and gone straight upstairs, but not before going to the kitchen and doing a few things. Now, he was here and feeling worse than ever.

Even from his room, he could finally hear grandpa saying goodbye to the last customer and then closing the shop up for the night. The locks were the first thing that the owner always did before cleaning up a little. So Atem knew it was going to be about ten minutes before grandpa came inside.

Closing his eyes, Atem started to let his mind roam. Immediately, his thoughts took him to his Light, wondering what he was doing and how he was. His eyes were closed for no more than a minute before he felt a hand on his shoulder, gently shaking him.

"Atem, are you alright?" A concerned voice said.

Blinking his eyes opened, Atem looked up and was staring into old violet colored eyes.

"Jii-chan?" He asked, feeling a little groggily. Huh, weird. He had only closed his eyes for maybe a minute, and he was feeling the effects he would feel if he had woken up from a nap. He struggled to sit up and used his arm to hold his weight upright. His blankets were still secure around his body and he was glad for them.

The elderly man nodded his head. He was seated on the edge of the bed and was watching his grandson. "What on earth are you doing asleep so early? You haven't even eaten dinner yet." The concern was evident in his voice as much as it was in his eyes.

"Asleep? I wasn't asleep," Atem said, disagreeing with the statement.

An eyebrow was raised, "Are you so sure about that?"

Atem stayed quiet. Maybe he did fall asleep without even noticing. "I guess I was." He said it like he was trying to convince himself.

Grandpa watched his grandson look down at the blankets, looking tired. Something didn't seem right with the boy. It looked like he was getting sick. Then he noticed all of the blankets on him. "Oh, I'm guessing you're cold?" He referred to the two blankets wrapped around him tightly.

Atem nodded and bit his bottom lip, "I don't know why, but I'm freezing." Apparently, when he had fallen asleep, though he swore he still just closed his eyes for a minute, the chattering had stopped. But, thinking about it again brought it back up. He tried to cover it by moving the blanket to cover his mouth.

"Hm… The thermostat is only set on seventy three. I haven't touched it for a while." Grandpa muttered to himself. "Maybe you're catching a cold or something." He raised his hand and touched the back of his hand to his grandson's forehead. His frowned and flipped his hand over so his palm was touching the skin.

Atem watched him with droopy eyes. His grandfather's hand was warm against his skin that he found himself leaning against it.

"This is strange." Grandpa muttered, causing Atem to force his eyes opened. He touched the boy's cheek and then the other one, biting his lip in wonder. "You're not burning up. Instead, you're freezing." Atem held back the duh look and watch the elderly man. "I've never seen this before."

"Maybeit'ssomenewsicknessorsomething," Atem slurred his words together, not realizing that he had done so.

Grandpa frowned, not understanding a single word that left the boy's mouth. "I'm sorry, but can you repeat that?" He asked. Then he added, "More slowly than before."

Atem nodded his head but wish he didn't. He got a little lightheaded from the movement. "Maybe it's some new sickness or something." He repeated.

"Oh, gotcha." He said, understanding now. Then he shook his head, "I don't know about that." He caught sight of Atem's eyes drooping some more and then smiled, "How 'bout you go to sleep. In the morning, if you're still the same, I'll call the doctor, alright?" He patted the boy's leg.

Atem nodded and fell against his pillow once more. He barely managed a good night before he was out like a light.

Grandpa watched his sleeping grandson for a minute longer before rising to his feet. He had a bad feeling about this. It reminded him of something similar that happened a while back, but he couldn't remember what that something was. And you would think if it was something important, he would remember.

XxxxX

"_Atem? What're you doing here?" A familiar voice called out._

_Said name didn't look up from the water he was looking in. He was back in his home land in the palace courtyard sitting by the fountain and watched the fishes swim around. He would sometimes poke his fingers into the cool, crisp water and watched with an amused expression as the fishes got curious and would come to investigate. _

"_Good to see you too, Mahad," Atem called out and finally looked up to see one of the six Egyptian priests come striding over. He looked a bit concerned but grinned upon seeing one of his closest friends. When he came close enough, Atem got up from his spot and greeted his old friend with a firm hand. _

"_I'm sorry, it was just startled me to see you here unannounced." He said and frowned to himself when he realized how wrong that sounded. But before he could correct himself, Atem waved it away. _

"_Don't worry about it, I understood the meaning." He said. The two sat down at the fountain as if they had just been walking for miles without any stops. Or, at least Atem felt that way. For some reason, it felt like that strange cold had followed him here. His head started to softly ache, though it didn't hurt as bad as it normally did. He rubbed his temple. _

_Mahad noticed the movement and looked towards him with a curious look, "Are you alright?" He asked. _

"_Yeah, just this weird headache that seems to follow me everywhere I go now." He said and couldn't help but keep a frown out of his voice. He stopped rubbing his temple and looked away, out to the scenery of the one place he grew up in. "Mahad, have you ever heard of someone getting sick and instead of them having a hot fever, they have a cold one?"_

_The priest didn't say anything for a moment, considering the question. Indeed, he had never heard of a symptom like that. In Egypt, they only ever got fevers and he was no healer. But, after being in the Afterlife for as long as he has, he studied some modern sicknesses. But, still, he had never heard of someone being sick with a cold fever. Or whatever you would call it. _

"_I can't say I have." He responded after a moment. "Why do you ask?"_

_Atem shrugged, "It seems as though I have caught something that deals with that. My grandpa," it felt weird saying 'my' around Mahad but he ignored it and continued, "said he never heard of something like that either. So, I was just curious." _

"_Have you seen Mana since last time?" He asked. _

_He shook his head, "No. It's been quiet over here. I assume she has been watching that Light of yours. Yugi was it?" He still wasn't too familiar with his friend's new brother since they haven't actually met in person._

_Atem nodded. He opened his mouth to say something when something just clicked in his mind. "My Light?" He said out loud, repeating what his friend had just said. Mahad looked over but stayed quiet. The look on the prince's face told him he was in deep thought and didn't need to be interrupted. "My Light…" he repeated much softer. He furrowed his brow. Then it clicked. _

_Startling Mahad, Atem jumped to his feet. "Oh, my Ra!" He exclaimed. _

"_What is wrong?" Mahad asked, alarmed. _

_Atem turned towards him, "I think I may know what's wrong with me! Earlier today, I was feeling normal and like myself, but as the day wore on, I started to feel sick." He started to pace without even realizing he was doing so. "Though, I don't understand why it just suddenly happened. Yugi said it took him several months…"_

_Mahad stayed calm but he was getting confused. "May I ask what you are talking about? I can't read your mind." He smiled at that, remembering when they were kids Atem used to do the same thing. He had thought the young price had grown out of that habit, but apparently not. _

_He stopped his pacing long enough to look at one of his oldest friends and explain, "Remember when Yugi's light was killing him?" There was a nod. "Well that's because he didn't have a Dark to tame his Light. He was getting sick and always having these headaches. He said this all happened for several months, each day it was getting worse. _

"_When I came back to live with him, my Dark healed him. That was just the way it always was. We couldn't live without each other." He paused, collecting his mind. But, as he was doing so, Mahad spoke, catching on. _

"_And now that Yugi is gone, there is no Light here to tame your Dark, correct?" _

_Atem nodded and plopped down next to the priest. He hunched over and propped his head up on his hands, his elbows on his knees. _

_There was a moment of silence between the two friends. Then Mahad said, "You know you don't need Yugi to support you; you have options."_

_The prince frowned and looked over to him. "Options? Like?"_

_Mahad sat a little straighter as he explained, "Well, in order for your Dark to not consume you, you can either one, have that friend of yours, the one that looks like the Thief Bakura,"_

"_His name is Ryou." Atem corrected him._

"_Right, Ryou," He said, "You can have Ryou adopt you. The thief Bakura had adopted Yugi so he wouldn't burn up. They're sharing. Ryou can do the same for you. You would just have to make contact and let him know about it."_

_Atem nodded, wondering about that. He could just share Ryou's Light until his own came back. Then he remembered about the other option. "And the other?"_

"_There's only two," he warned. "The first one is about sharing and the second, which would seem a lot more helpful, would be recreating your own Light."_

"_Recreating?"_

_Mahad bit his lip and said, "Well, recreating or bringing it back, which ever you see it as." He stood up and said, "How 'bout we take a walk as we cover this; it may take a while."_

_Atem nodded and together, they started to walk around the castle. _

_XxxxX_

Sunlight penetrated against the dark curtains of his room and spilled through a parted part, causing him to stir and roll over. It was about nine o'clock on Saturday morning, the usual time he would wake up. But, he wasn't ready too.

As the time ticked by, the sunlight shone brighter as its generator rose slowly into the sky. By this time, the light shone on the sleeping forms face.

"Mm," he mumbled but blinked his eyes opened. His sight was a little blurry, nothing blinking your eyes couldn't fix. He did just that and stayed lying down. He didn't move as he gave himself a mental body and head check up.

"Thank Ra," Atem whispered, satisfied when he completed the check up. He sat up and yawned. Slipping out of bed, the young teenager walked towards his door and opened it quietly. He walked out and went downstairs, in search for his grandfather.

And he found him where he always found him in the mornings, sipping at a cup of tea at the table in the kitchen. He had the morning newspaper in one hand and his cup in the other.

"Morning, Jii-chan." He greeted. He walked over to the fridge for something to drink.

Grandpa looked up from his reading and smiled, "I see someone is feeling better this morning. Should I still call the doctor to set up an appointment?" He asked.

Atem shook his head and brought the orange juice container out from the fridge. He pulled a cup from the cabinet and poured him something to drink. As he was pouring, he shook his head and said, "I actually know what was wrong with me." He said and stopped pouring when the glass was full. He put the fruity drink back into the fridge and took a sip as he turned around to face the elderly man. He took another sip.

"Really? How?"

"I found out from Mahad, well, in a sense I did." He said and then explained after taking a gulp from his drink. His grandfather already knew about him being able to visit his old friends so it was nothing new to say. "I figured it out and then he helped me understand it."

Grandpa felt himself getting confused at the young man's talk. His face must have showed it and Atem sheepishly smiled.

"Sorry. But, remember a while back when Yugi's Light was taking over?" There was a nod. "Well, the same thing is happening to me, but instead of my Light, it's my Dark." A look of horror crossed the elderly man's face but Atem was quick to deliver the good news. "Don't worry though, like I said, Mahad helped me. I brought back my Light so I am whole again."

"Brought back? How did you bring it back?"

Atem took another sip and said, "Apparently, when I had left the Afterlife, I needed to have a Light so my Dark wouldn't take over. It was something everyone needed and you couldn't leave unless you had both. I never knew about it because I never thought about it before. And since I never knew about it, there was no way of me knowing I had it. So when I left, I had both my Dark and Light. Does that make sense?"

"Kind of, but continue." Grandpa said. He figured he'd piece it all together later.

"When I came back, my Light was stored up. I never accessed it because I had Yugi -,"

"And you didn't know about it."

Atem nodded. "Exactly. But, with Yugi gone, my Dark had started to take over. I had symptoms opposite of what Yugi had."

Grandpa thought about what his grandson had told him last night. He was shivering uncontrollable, his speech pattern was slurred, he had headaches and he was overcome with sleep. "In a way, you had hypothermia." He commented, pretty sure the description matched the sickness.

The teen nodded, not familiar with the word but agreed to it anyways. "Yes."

"So, what now? How are you going to gain Light if Yugi isn't here?"

Atem smiled and said, "Well, when I was with Mahad, he helped me call upon it. So as of now, I have both Dark and Light."

XxxxX

Later that day, Atem had gotten ready for the day; taking a shower and putting something nice on. He figured he'd go see how Lyla was doing. As he was putting his wallet into his back pocket, he reached out for his phone. He flipped it open and frowned. He had one miss call. He couldn't tell who the caller was but they left a message. (A/n So you know, Atem does not have Bakura's number. I mean, why would he? They're sworn enemies!)

Curious, he dialed his Voice Mail and followed the instructions it gave him. Before long, he heard a familiar voice on the other end.

_"Hey, Atem! This is Yugi! Sorry I called at such an early hour but I didn't really get any other chance at calling. I just wanted to let you that I miss you and everyone else like crazy and hope you're doing well. I wanted to say that I'm doing fine and so is mom. Nothing has really been happening and I still don't know the reason on why I'm here. Kind of weird, huh? But, I'm getting closer to the truth, or well, kind of. Don't worry; I'll be back before you know it. Tell Jii-chan that I love him and I'll hopefully be able to talk to everyone soon. I love you!"_

When the call ended, Atem let out a sigh. At least his Light was okay. From the way he talked, you could tell he had a lot on his mind, and his faking being happy just added on. But, at least he didn't sound like he was in pain.

"Just come home in one piece, Yugi. And make it soon."

XxxxX Until next time!

I really think I should have redone this chapter. I don't know why, but it didn't seem all that well. (I had imagined that when Yugi confronted his father, it would be longer. But, I didn't know how to make it longer. I didn't know what I could add.)

Lisa: You'll just have to make it up to them. Make the next chapter even better.

Ooh, speaking of the next chapter, I can't wait to start writing it! Something big is going to happen!

Lisa: And now for the reviewers

For my anonymous readers:

**Flutiepatootie: **Aww, thank you! And I'm trying! It's hard trying to keep what I want straight. And by the way, when I saw your name, it brought a smile to my face.

**Dragon: **Really? Texan's rule! :D And dude, (or dudette) you have a lot of family in Texas. I don't think I even have that many in this amazing state! And I have a loooot of family. (Toooo many. Lol) Thanks for reading!


	30. Kidnapped, World Domination, and Plans

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or any of its characters!**

Chapter Twenty-Eight

**Yugi's POV**

One Month Later:

Ever since the argument with Chokichi, Yugi had been placed on an even shorter leash than before. He went straight to school and came home right after his third period class. Somehow, Chokichi figured out that his son had off periods. There was no going anywhere during the weekends unless Chokichi went with him (the store or out to dinner) and more chores were added. Miyuki was cut a little slack, but she was still on a pretty short leash. She was allowed to go out, but she had a time limit and she had to say who she was going with, if not alone, and where she was going. Life had gone from bad to worse.

The only good thing that came out of this whole mess was Yugi got caught up on sleep.

During the time he couldn't leave the house, a surprise visitor came by. He did this a couple of times, claiming that he was bored at the hotel he was at and needed someone to talk too. Bakura snuck through Yugi's window that he kept unlocked, and would stay there for a couple of hours. If Chokichi was about to come, Yugi shoved him in either the closet or under the bed until the coast was clear. That was the only thing that kept Yugi from going insane. That was, however, until Bakura had announced something totally unexpected.

Mini Flashback:

"_You're what?" Yugi exclaimed. _

_Bakura calmly stood in the middle of the room. He had been there for the last two hours, just hanging around and making fun of his adopted Light when he broke the news that he was going to be leaving to go to a convention in the state up from here. (Which would be Oklahoma.) He switched his weight from one foot to the other. "You heard me." He said. _

_Yugi nodded and stood up from the chair he was just occupying as he left his homework unattended. "Yes, I just did. But, what I don't understand is why?" He could almost picture his soul room catching on fire and the severe pain that would appear everywhere. He felt a chill run down his spine._

_His eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "There's a convention taking place in a few days and I don't want to miss it." He crossed his pale arms against his chest. _

"_But-,"_

_As if reading his mind, Bakura said, "Look, you don't need me anymore." That caused a little confusion. Groaning, he continued in an irritated voice, "Ever since you stood up to your father, you've grown your own Dark. Meaning, you don't need me anymore. I can leave you and nothing will happen to you."_

_Yugi had his mouth gaped open a bit. He… has his own dark now? But... "But I thought you couldn't 'grow' your own Dark, much less Light." _

"_You're forgetting one person, Mutt. Ryou grew his own Dark."_

"_That's because you basically made him." Yugi pointed out. _

_The albino teen glared at him but didn't comment on it. Instead, he said, "Look, anybody can grow their own Dark or Light, but it just depends. If you have Dark and you need Light, it'll take awhile, but it can happen. You just have to do a lot of good deeds that will actually make a difference in the world. If it was flipped and you had Light but no Dark, you would just have to stand up for yourself because those who usually don't have Dark are kids who were like you; weak, annoyingly kind, plain out annoying, goodie goods -,"_

"_I get the point…" Yugi said in a tight voice, cutting him off. He was going to ignore the new way of insulting him. "So, you're saying because I started to argue back with my father and stood up to him, I got my own Dark?" He meant to ask Bakura, but it came out more of a mumble, like he was just repeating it to himself. _

_Though Bakura heard it and nodded, "Duh, that's what I said." He unfolded his arms and switched his weight to the other side. "Now you don't need that baka pharaoh anymore."_

_Yugi looked at him, clearly insulted by the comment. He didn't say anything though. What would it be like now, now that they were complete? _

_Noticing that Yugi was about to go in deep thinking, Bakura cleared his throat loudly, "I don't have all day." Yugi looked at his and frowned. "Anyways, I'll be back in a week or three. I don't really know how long the convention will last or how long I want to stay there."_

"_Alright." He watched the albino teen walk over to the window and opened it up._

_As he was climbing out, he looked back and smirked, "Now, don't miss me too much." _

_Yugi scoffed and rolled his eyes. He gave a small wave and watched the only real friend he had here that he could talk to about anything. _

End of Mini Flashback

With Bakura gone, Yugi was beyond bored. He was walking home from school and his shoulders were aching from the weight from his bag. Since it was Friday, he thought he would take his books home so he could read ahead for his next classes and be prepared for any pop quizzes his teachers liked to give. He also had a major test coming up and he wanted to get a good grade on it.

He was walking down the busy street, Matrix, and was grumbling to himself.

"Why did I have to bring all of my books with me? Oh, that's right; I brought them all at different times during the week and stored them in my locker. And now, I'm stuck with all of the books. Way to go, Yugi… way to go." He shook his head and then smiled slightly. Talking to himself out loud made him think of the old days when Atem still went by the name of Yami.

He shifted the straps on his shoulders to a better position and looked around. There was only a few cars passing by and there was almost no one walking around. Maybe one runner and a couple pushing a stroller but that were about it. There was nothing out of the ordinary, since it was still in the middle of a work day.

When he passed by the street right before his, he felt a presence behind him and the soft footsteps were rather loudly in his ears. A warning sign popped into his head, his sixth sense telling him to run. But, for some reason, he didn't. He just kept walking, thinking it was just someone trying to walk by. His abnormal sense, the one he learned from his brother a few years back, had been acting up all the time when he was with his father so he became use to it.

Yugi moved a little to the side, showing that he was making room for the person behind him. A minute went by and no one passed by. Thinking that he just imagined it, he looked over his shoulder to confirm there was no one when his sight suddenly blinded and something was put over his head.

"Hey!" He yelped but before he could struggle away, he felt something hit the back of his head really hard.

As Yugi's form went limp, the person caught him and hauled him over his shoulder. He rolled his eyes and muttered, "That was too easy."

XxxxX

**Bakura's POV **(This POV is for InsaneEvilLittleEmmy)

"Going for the last call for this 2005 Calico kitty statue!" The bidder announcer called out.

Bakura had only enough money for this last item and he had bided a lot. He was just five seconds of winning the rare item and taking it home with him. He waited in his seat and had a calm expression on the outside. But on the inside, he was bouncing up and down like a little kid. Good thing his hikari couldn't read his mind.

"Going once! … Going Twice…. So-,"

"One hundred!" Someone yelled out in the crowd, holding up his sign.

Bakura froze. He turned around and found the person who bided look at him and casted him a smug smile. '_Better luck next time,' _it seemed to say.

He curled his lip in hatred and turned back around in his seat, just as the bidder announcer looked at him as he was calling out the new price of a hundred dollars. When no one tried for higher, the item was sold, and not to Bakura.

An hour after the whole bidding was over, Bakura walked over to his acquaintances with his new 2005 kitty statue in his hand. He wasn't smiling, but on the inside, he was.

"What did I miss?" He asked when he stopped next to them.

One of the guys shook his head, "Not much; we were just going over the plans." He caught sight of what Bakura was holding and smirked, "What, did you take that from him?"

Bakura looked at the small statue in his hand and shrugged, "He was basically asking me to take it from him." He wouldn't admit that the poor lad had almost peed his pants, and Bakura hadn't even touched him yet! The kid, knowing what would happen just shoved the item he had paid for at Bakura and ran away. All Bakura did was walk up to him with a dangerous look.

"Sweet," One of the other guys complimented him. He grinned real big and was nodding his head like he was answering a question.

"Anyways," a third person said, getting everyone back on track. "There's about three hundred followers, Bakura. Some of them aren't here but they will be in about an hour or so."

Bakura nodded, taking in the information. "How many people are here right now?"

"I estimated around… two hundred. The extra's you see here are just the normal tourists." He shook his head in disgust.

The real reason on why Bakura was here was indeed because of the cat convention. But, the convention had a real purpose to it. And that purpose was to take over the world. They just used the cats as a disguise since no one would suspect a cat; they're so fluffy and cute and very lazy. They could go around the world and not look suspicious. And it was easier to attract other people too. In all, they had a huge group of people, estimated around one thousand people. And that was just half of the world they gotten too.

Bakura had stumbled upon the convention back in Japan and immediately joined. Within the two days he had joined, he was nominated to be a recruiter and later vice president because of the knowledge he knew about world domination. People took a liking to him not because he was intimidating, but because he had great ideas and was an interesting person to talk too.

"Alright. When the rest get here, we'll have an announcement and-," Bakura started to say when he was cut off by doors being slammed opened and women's screams. The small group turned around, tense but curious on what was going on. And what they saw was something that made their blood turn cold.

One of the head people in the FBI came walking calmly into the building and said in a loud enough voice, "And you really think we're that stupid, huh?" His men, countless of FBI soldiers (agents?) came hurrying in, decked out in their uniforms and guns in everyone's hands.

The same man continued talking, "You might as well give up what you are doing because your intention for world domination has just come to an end."

Bakura frowned, wondering how they knew what they were planning. Without moving his head, he looked around the room, looking for an escape route, but found none. The soldier's were blocking all of the exits and the windows were way to high up to jump out of. They were all trapped.

"Damn…"

"Think positive though," one of his men said, the one who was stating how many people were still coming, "At least they can't hold us all in jail. And we didn't really do anything against the law, so we'll get away with a warning."

Bakura rolled his eyes. He was going to be one of them that was put in jail because he was one of the higher up people. But, what the idiot did say was true; they can't keep him there because technically, he didn't do anything.

'_Well, a night or two in jail isn't the worst thing that has happened to me.' _He thought. '_I just hope Ryou doesn't find out what I've been up too. I'll never hear the end of it… And he's always annoying giving me a speech about everything.' _

XxxxX

**Tea's POV**

Almost two months and she haven't seen her boy friend. And his birthday was coming up soon too. And so was Prom and so was graduation. She couldn't do any of that without him. None of them could.

Tea, Joey, Tristan, and Ryou were all seated in class, waiting for the bell to ring so they could go to lunch. Atem had gone to the bathroom so he wasn't here at the moment. They were done early with their work, or well Ryou and Tea was, the other two were just goofing around getting nothing done like normal and would end up having to take it home for homework. So now, they just talked amongst themselves.

"Guys, what're we going to do?" Tea groaned, dropping her head into her hands. She rubbed her temples as if she had a huge headache. Which it felt like she was getting one.

Joey tilted his head. "Do about what?"

"Atem's and Yugi's birthday is coming up."

The four were silent, missing their friend in more ways than they could count.

It was Tristan who spoke up, "Well, we're going to have to celebrate it. We can do one party for Atem when the time comes, and when we see Yugi, we'll do another one."

Ryou took the turn to talk, "Won't it seem a bit weird though?"

Tristan shrugged, "It'll be even weirder if we don't."

"It just won't feel right celebrating without Yugi there." Tea said, dropping her hands. "They share the same birthday and really, this will be their first birthday together. Or would be their first birthday together." She corrected herself since her boyfriend wasn't here.

"How 'bout we just have a small party for Atem?" Joey suggested. "We could all go over to the Game Shop and talk to Gramps about a nice dinner or somethin'. And when Yugi comes back, we'll throw a huge party. That's what my mom use to do for me and Serenity years ago. On our birthdays, we would have a small party with a cake and then on the weekend, our few relatives would come over and a few friends of ours and then we go all out." He shrugged.

Tea nodded, liking the idea. She just wished Yugi could be here. Earlier in the year, she was planning a huge party because it would be Atem's first birthday party (As in living in the modern age), and two, because it was going to be his and Yugi's eighteenth birthday. That was always something to be excited about.

She sighed. There wasn't one day, much less one hour she didn't think about him. People would consider her clingy, but she was just worried. This was the first time they had been separated for this long. Even when they were kids, they always saw each other, even if they didn't play together.

Ryou noticed the depressed chick. He leaned across his desk and touched her shoulder lightly and said, "Hey, he'll be home before you know it."

She sadly nodded, "I just wish it was now. I miss him."

"We all do," Joey added quietly. "But, we gotta believe he's doing well and thinking of a way to come home." He gave her a smile just as Atem came back.

"What did I miss?" He asked and sat down at his desk.

Tea shook her head, "Nothing."

He raised an eyebrow but didn't question it.

And it was at that moment the bell rung and everyone was out of their seats, eager to go to lunch.

XxxxX Till next time!

I have to say, I kind of had fun with this chapter. Besides the part with Yugi, the other two POV's was completely random.

Lisa: She needed to have some fun.. and I'll say she had a bit too much.

Whatever. For Bakura, don't ask. Before I had started writing to this story, I was discussing the ideas with my sister. We were talking about him and I had told her "I don't know why Bakura should be in Texas!" She just gave me a weird idea of world domination. (Because that is still kind of Bakura's personality) I liked the idea but needed something funny. And at that moment, my brother's cat, Orange-Foot walked by and I thought of a kitty convention. It's got no real reason behind it, so don't worry.

Lisa: Weird thoughts is that she has. Yup.

And guess what? You're related to me!

Lisa: Am not! I'm part of you!

Same difference.

But really, don't take to heart about Bakura and his kitty fetish. It was just something fun for me to write. It's not important.

Lisa: And for the Tea thing, she needed to make the chapter longer. Originally, it was just going to be with Yugi. But that was only like a thousand words. So she added Bakura and then decided Tea.

Hope you don't mind! And next chapter will pick up! You'll find out some important things! (I was very excited about writing the kidnap Yugi part, even though it wasn't written all that great. It was still fun and exciting!)

Well, see y'all soon!


	31. The Deal

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or any of its characters!**

Chapter Twenty-Nine

A dull pain appeared in the back of his head when he felt himself gain consciousness. He groaned and tried to touch the spot that felt like someone had hit him with a brick when he stopped. He couldn't move his hands.

His eyes flashed open and he flinched from the bright light that was dangling down on him from above. His eyes narrowed so he could let them adjust just as he realized he was sitting on a chair. His wrists and ankles were, what appeared to be, duct taped to the chair and the sticky, strong tape was wrapped around his chest too. He was unable to move.

'_Why does this always happen to me?'_ He mentally asked himself with a shake of his head. He wondered how much he could move his hands, but as he tried, he figured it out. '_Yup, I can barely move. Lovely.' _

Without moving his head, his eyes looked up and scanned the perimeter of the place he was in. It was a warehouse by the looks of it. Crates stacked up on top of one another and there were machines in the back of the building. Small windows were all around, but they were too high up to climb up to. There were more lights hanging from the ceiling, but only one was on, the one hanging down above him.

'_I think kidnappers really need to find a better place to bring their victims. Warehouses are so over rated now.' _He thought. For some reason, he wasn't scared. Maybe it was because this happened to him so much he got used to it. He would never really know because at that moment, the sound of light and heavy footsteps mixed together was heard.

Yugi turned his head in the direction of the loud steps. He couldn't see anyone from the darkness, but he knew someone was there.

"Well, well, well, our little Mutou finally woke up," a voice said in the direction Yugi was already looking in. He estimated that the person who belonged to the voice was maybe in his late twenties, early thirties by how young but mature the voice sounded.

Yugi ignored the comment and put as much courage into his voice as possible to make him sound calm and collected, "Who are you and why did you bring me here?" He wanted to come up with a better question, but none came to mind so he just settled with the questions everyone always asked.

A different voice answered him from the other side of the building. Yugi turned his head towards the voice and squinted his eyes as he out made an outline of a person at the edge of the light. "Who we are isn't of importance to you and for your second question; you can thank your old man for that."

"Old man? What does my dad have to do with any of this?" Even as he said it, he had a faint idea on what the answer was.

Finally, the two voices stepped into the light, followed by other people, though they chose to stay more in the background.

The person who spoke first walked over to Yugi. He was wearing the simple light blue t-shirt and jeans and looked rather plain. His brown hair was cut military style; hair on the top and shaved on the sides. From a distance, Yugi couldn't tell what his eye color was, but predicted it was a dark color, maybe blue or brown. He had fair skin color and he looked to be in his early thirties. He took his time walk over to their victim.

The other person was heavily built. He looked like he worked out on his upper body, but that was about it. It looked as though he ate fairly nicely. He was wearing the normal attire, consisting of a red collared shirt and some black slacks. He had a full, neatly shaved beard and no mustache. His black hair shone against the only light being shown. He walked over until he stood a few feet in front of Yugi with his arms crossed over his chest. In a way, he looked like someone's body guard.

"Your _daddy _is the reason on why you're here." The first person said said, spitting on the word 'dad'. He came to a stop in front of Yugi, standing next to his partner. His face was set in a scowl and he looked Yugi up and down, like he was disgusted by what he saw.

Yugi chose to ignore the look and calmly said, "And that would be…?"

The other guy spoke, though his tone was a bit kinder. "So we can trade."

So he guessed right. Yugi nodded and said to clear things up, "So, you're thinking that my dad will pay you the money he owes your boss because you kidnapped me?" Before he could even blink, the clean shaved face man reached forward and slapped Yugi across the face. The sound echoed around the silent building.

"Don't speak to us like that!" He growled.

"Then how would you like me to talk to you?" Yugi asked as he turned to look at the two. He must have imagined it, but he thought he heard a snicker from somewhere in the shadows. He made his expression as unreadable as possible. His heart was racing in his chest now. He wasn't exactly afraid, but it was among the lines of that.

The guy with the beard looked away, stretching his mouth so his smile wouldn't be noticeable. He liked this kid, he got some spunk. Usually, whenever he and everyone else in the crew kidnapped someone, they would be sweating cows, and some of them would be grown men too!

"I don't know, but just don't speak to us like you know us!" Was his reply.

Yugi thought for a minute, chewing his lip. "Alright, my name is Yugi, but I guess you already knew that. What's yours?" He wasn't really meaning to make it sound like a smart remark. He was indeed curious about the people who kidnapped him and hopefully, he might be able to explain the situation to them. It was always nice to make new friends. Maybe, it'll help too.

The guy with the beard turned back and said, "Thomas. Thomas Duke." His partner turned to him and hit him in the stomach with his arm. "What?" He growled under his breath as his eyes slightly narrowed in annoyance.

The guy with his attention on Thomas moved his eyes in Yugi's direction and then back to him, giving him a silent remembrance.

Thomas just shrugged and mumbled, "There's nothing wrong with introductions." He turned back to Yugi and gestured over to the other guy who was now crossing his arms against his chest, looking as though he was pouting, "He's Chris, by the way."

Yugi smiled a friendly smile, "Nice to meet you, Thomas, Chris." Thinking to himself, he thought the name Duke was a commonly used name. He has a friend with that name, Duke Devlin, and now he met someone with the last name as Duke. A wonder how there will never be one unique name in the world.

Thomas nodded his head and Chris did nothing to acknowledge the kid.

"Get on with it!" A voice yelled in the background.

Chris looked up and grinned. He turned back to Yugi and continued on with the conversation before it had changed, "Your father will pay us regardless. We just took you so he would do it faster. He's a couple of months late."

Yugi nodded his head. He had a thought on whether or not he should tell the guys that they were just wasting their own time. But, what did he have to lose? Maybe he could go home faster. When he had looked to the windows, he had noticed the sky was darkening. It must be around six or seven by now.

Finally deciding that there was nothing to lose, he said, "If that is the only reason why you brought me here, then I guess I'm going to be here for a while."

Chris lost his grin and in its place was a frown. "And what do you mean by that?" He took a step towards the kid, looking intimidating.

Yugi swallowed his nerves and said, "Just because you took me won't make my father pay you faster. As long as he knows I'm not dead, he won't care. He doesn't even have the money right now."

A look of anger passed through both Chris's and Thomas's eyes.

"He said he'd have the money!"

Thomas turned to Chris and said, "Maybe we should just go over there now and beat him to a near death so he would at least pay something."

Another voice yelled from the background, making the hair on the back of Yugi's neck stand up. "I heard there's a woman there too!"

"I wonder how much Chokichi likes his wife. Maybe we can do some rounds with her-,"

"You will _not _touch her!" Yugi yelled, trying desperately to get out of his bonds.

Chris turned to him and gave him an amused look. "And what will you do?"

What will he do? Right now, he was taped to a chair and there was no way of getting out of it and if he did manage to, what would he do? By the sounds of it, there were at least more than five people in this warehouse, not to mention that they were street fighters and bigger than him. Yugi wouldn't fight them, not because of him being weak –well, that was part of the reason- but he still didn't believe in fighting. What could he do that would spare him and his mom? What—

And that was when he thought of it.

"I'll pay you." He quickly said.

That sparked a look of interest in both men's eyes. They turned back to him.

Yugi swiftly thought of something that seemed logical and would help them both. "I'll pay you the money my dad owes you."

"In return of what?" Thomas asked.

"Leave my family alone." His heart beat twice as fast as a nervous sweat trickled down the back of his neck.

Thomas turned to Chris and moved his head a little, telling him that they should talk in private.

"Wait here," he told Yugi and the two walked out of the circle of light and into the darkness.

"Not like I can go anywhere…" Yugi mumbled under his breath. He barely knew what he was doing. He just offered to pay these people ten thousand dollars with his own money. He felt nervous about it, but then his thoughts lead him to his mom and her safely. He bit his cheek, hoping that they would say yes. He just wanted to keep his mom safe.

After what seemed like a few hours, the two men came back, but this time, they brought someone with them. He was definitely over weight and had a mean look to him. He was wearing expensive clothes; a tan silk looking suit with a white fedora on top of his head. He was using a cane, probably more for show than for his actual use. All in all, he looked like a man who earns a lot of money and loaned some out.

He walked over to Yugi, looking him up and down. He circled the kid just as Chris introduced him, "Meet Kyo Jones, our boss and the man who lent your father all of that money."

The man, Kyo stopped in front of Yugi after a complete cycle. His blue eyes stared into his amethyst colored ones and in a deep voice, said, "So, you're the one who's offering to pay ten thousand dollars, hm?"

Yugi barely nodded his head, overwhelmed by the man. "Y-yes, sir."

Kyo smiled, "Well, someone knows how to use manners." He said and then dropped his smile, "So, how do you plan on paying?"

"I have money in my bank account. I can assure you that I can pay it. Just as long as you leave me and my family alone." He said in a brave manner.

Kyo nodded his head and snapped his fingers, "Release him, I don't like having my friends bound down to a chair like the way he is." Immediately, Chris walked over and brought out a pocket knife from his jeans and flickered it opened. He started to cut the tape away.

As soon as the tape was off, Yugi stood up, rubbing his wrists.

"Follow me, Mr. Mutou." Kyo said and lead the way away from the chair.

Yugi did as he was told. He walked after the overweight man with Chris and Thomas following close behind like security guards. They walked into the darkness and around some crates. If it wasn't for an office whose light had been left on, Yugi would have been totally blinded by the dark.

In a matter of minutes, the four men made it to an office and all of them except for Yugi sat down.

"You can sit," Kyo offered the chair right across the desk. He was in a big, comfortable looking chair.

Yugi sat down on the edge of the plastic chair, still nervous. He's only seen things like this in movies.

"So, when is the soonest you can pay?" Kyo asked. He leaned forward in his chair so that his arms rested on his big oak table.

"Once I turn eighteen I'm allowed to touch the money stored in my account." Yugi said. He tried to sound calm and professional and thought he was doing a good job at it. Though he could hear the nerves in his voice and the others noticed to. Thankfully, they didn't mention it.

Chris frowned, "When do you turn eighteen?"

Yugi looked over to his right where Chris had parked himself. "Only in a couple of days. I can have the money to you by this Sunday."

Kyo liked what he was hearing. "All of it?"

"Yes, sir; all of it."

Kyo and Yugi talked for a little longer about important things like where they were going to meet up and such. When they came to a closer, Kyo held his hand out and Yugi hesitantly took it.

"Great doing business with you, Yugi."

Yugi nodded.

"We'll drop you off at home," Thomas offered. Yugi turned to look at him, about to protest when he interrupted, "You don't even know where we are and your home is a bit far. Don't worry, we'll drop you off at the beginning of you street."

"Alright." Yugi said. He was handed his backpack from Chris and they walked out of the office and back into the dark warehouse.

As they were walking, Chris muttered, "You must really like your dad to have to pay off his debt."

In a tight voice, Yugi shook his head, "I'm only doing this so you will leave me and my mom alone. If you hurt my dad, no doubt he'd hurt us too." His dad deserves getting hurt from all of the things he did, but Yugi couldn't just sit back and watch his parents getting hurt. He wanted to protect them in any way he could. Even if that meant protecting the man who hurt him.

Chris said nothing and they continued on walking.

XxxxX

"Where the bloody hell is he?" Chokichi demanded. He was pacing the living room with anger radiating off of him in waves. It felt like he was always pacing this room waiting for his son to return home. He had come home to find Miyuki checking the whole house, worry clearly on her face as she couldn't find her son. That had been two hours ago.

Miyuki sat nervously on the edge of the couch. She was still wearing her work clothes. "Maybe he is just hanging out with his friends." She said, trying to calm her raging husband and not think about all of the bad things that could be happening to her baby.

Chokichi snorted and reached one end of the wall and turned around and came back. "Yeah, right. I already told him to be home at a certain time."

"Maybe he's with them back of the short leash you put on him." She said, her voice coming off a little coldly. She watched the man that she was supposed to call husband look over to her, an eyebrow raised in anger. He stopped a few feet in front of his wife.

"If he did what I told him to do, he wouldn't even be grounded. But no, you raised him to ignore rules and behave like a delinquent. If I had stayed and helped raised him, he would be know what the belt was and-,"

_**Slap**_

Miyuki had stood up and angrily slapped her husband. She was tired of him scolding their child and being nothing but rude to him. She was sick and tired of it.

"I'll have you know that before you decided to show up and ruin his life, he had and still has manners. He may be one of the sweetest kids I have ever known and I am not saying that because I am his mother. I brought him up as a gentleman whenever I was there. It's really thanks to your dad that Yugi is the way he is." She said. "Yugi is no delinquent either. And if I ever hear you call my son that again, I swear that I will…"

"You'll what?" Chokichi asked, stepping closer to her, his eyes narrowing more.

But Miyuki did not back down. She got up right in his face and said in a cold voice, "I swear I'll have called you out faster than you can even blink." She might not have looked as threatening since she was a head shorter than her husband, but the way she spoke covered up for that.

Chokichi smirked, "I'd like to see that happen."

However, before anything could happen, the jiggling of the door knob caught their attention and they both stepped away from each other. As the door opened and someone walked inside, Miyuki left where she was just standing and hurled herself as her son, hugging him tightly.

"Where have you been?" She cried and pulled back, kissing his forehead over and over like a concerned mother who hadn't seen her child for a couple of days.

Yugi tried to get out of her grasp and said, "I was out," He was appreciative for the concern but it was overwhelming him. As if reading his thoughts, Miyuki let him go and held his face in her hands. He could tell by the look in her eyes that there was going to be trouble soon. Not from her but from …

Without even realizing it, Chokichi had sauntered across the room and grabbed his son by the front of the shirt. "Where the hell have you been?" He lashed out, bringing his son's face up to meet his.

Yugi didn't even flinch as he let his father hold him the way he was holding him. "Where I was is of no concern to you," he said calmly.

His father's eyes narrowed. "You will tell me or I will beat it out of you." He threatened.

But Yugi wasn't affected by the words. "You can try, but I won't say anything." He stared into his father's sharp blue eyes, noticing the raging emotions welling there. If things went wrong, his father would have no doubt beaten him up right now. He's done it before, especially when Yugi defied his father's orders. And if his father let it slide, there wasn't much punishment he could do. Only thing would be, 'you're not allowed to go to school'. But he doubted his father would do that to him.

"One of these days, you're going to wish you kept that mouth shut. There will be consequences." He shoved his son away from him and stalked out of the living room, his anger wanting to get the best of him.

Once he was out of the picture, Miyuki turned to her son and whispered, "Where were you? Do you realize what he could have done to you?" She stared to check him over for any injuries he might have received since she didn't believe he was just out with friends.

Yugi made sure his father wasn't eavesdropping and lowered his own voice. "Don't be mad, but I was with those guys that dad owes money too." Miyuki's eyes narrowed but before she could say anything, her son continued. "Don't worry; nothing happened. I made a deal with them so they won't bother us. We don't have to worry about them coming here and hurting you.

"I'm going to bring them the money this Sunday. I'll be eighteen on Thursday so I'll be allowed to touch my account money."

"What?" She said, completely shocked. "You're going to pay for your father's debt that he put on himself?"

He nodded. "If I didn't offer to pay, then those guys would have come here and beat dad up. Not to mention they could have hurt you or done something horrible to you." His eyes gave off the impression that he was pouting because he didn't want that to happen while his lips were set as a grim line. "I couldn't have just sat around, watching them hurt you or worse, rape you. So I made the decision to get rid of them."

Tears started to well up in the mother's eyes as her eyes widened. "Oh, how am I supposed to take care of you when you're taking care of yourself and me? What kind of mother am I to put all of this stress on you?"

Yugi's face softened and he hugged his mother, "I'm your son, and that's what son's do. I'll always be looking out for you, just like how you looked out for me when I was younger." He hugged her tightly and buried his head in his shoulder. "You don't have to worry."

But for what he had in mind, _he _was going to have to worry. He now had a plan on how they were going to get out of this situation and it was all rushing in. Let's just hope things don't get complicated, otherwise, he might have to stay here forever.

XxxxX

Well, tell me how you like it! There's not that many chapters left!

Lisa: It's all coming to an end! Wow!

I can't really say how many chapters are left, because I'm afraid I'll get it wrong and then lie... once again.

Lisa: You do like lying to your readers, hikari

No I don't! I don't mean too...

Lisa: Sure you don't. Well, that's all we have for now! Next chapter is more or less a filler chapter. We're still trying to decide what'll happen, so most likely, it'll also be a short chapter. See y'all soon!


	32. Eighteenth Birthday!

**Edited February 13 because I needed to add/ change something.**

**Happy Sunday! Today is the marathon for the Walking Dead! You know what I'll be doing todaaaay!**

**Lisa: Sadly, it's true. That's probably all she'll be doing today. Anyways, enjoy the chapter and if there's any mistakes, feel free to say something. **

**Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Nor any of its characters, just my own. **

Chapter Thirty

"Happy birthday, Yugi!" Eilene said right when her friend entered English class two days later. He hadn't even had time to put his belongings down at his desk before he was pulled onto a tight hug.

"T-thank you, Eilene!" Yugi managed to say when he was released from her grip.

Before any conversations could go on, someone called his name and screamed at him, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YUGI!" He turned around and was pounced on by Lucy. He had to catch her and support both of their weight before they went crashing down to the ground.

"Thanks, Lucy," He said though his voice was a bit mumbled by her red hair in his face.

Lucy leaned back, still holding onto her friend so that their faces were only a couple inches apart. "So, what're you doing tonight for you birthday? Any special plans since it's your eighteenth birthday?"

"Lucy, you might want to get off of him so he can talk." Richard said, walking up from behind them. He looked towards his guy friend and said, "Happy birthday, man."

Yugi gently set Lucy back on her feet, trying to cover his blush by her sudden affection, and gave a half a smile towards him, "Thanks." And then he shook his head to answer Lucy's question. "Probably not. Though I think we might be going out-to-eat. I remember hearing my mom mention something to my father about it." Although, his father had said no to the suggestion.

Eilene smiled. "That's what my family usually do; we always go to a restaurant in Austin called _Catfish Parlor_. Best restaurant ever!" Just thinking about the place made her long for their hush puppies and the tartar sauce that came with it.

Lucy rolled her eyes, "I still can't believe y'all go an hour away from your home just to eat somewhere."

"I guess that means you want to skip out on the next time my birthday comes along?" She asked and raised an eyebrow. Every year when it was Eilene's birthday, she was allowed to take one friend with her to the place and she always brought her best friend. "Maybe I'll take Richard with me this year."

The red head pouted as she watched the new couple get closer. "No fair!" She said and Richard snaked one arm around his girl friend's waist.

"Life's not fair," Richard smiled as Eilene giggled.

"Oh, and Yugi," Eilene's face brightened up as she remembered something. Yugi looked at her as she left her boyfriend's side and went to her bag on her desk. Lucy's face brightened up as she helped her. They both brought out a medium size bag that had Happy Birthday written all over it in colorful letters and with drawings of confetti detailing the bag. Overall, the whole bag was full of bright color that just popped. She handed it to the birthday boy.

"This is from me and Lucy. We really didn't know what to get you, so we kind of just had fun with it."

"You didn't really have to get me anything," he said, biting his lip.

Lucy rolled her eyes and said, "Dude, it's your eighteenth birthday. Of course we had to get you something! Now take the bag or I'll keep it." She teased and gave him a wink.

Yugi took the bag and placed it on the desk so he could dig through it. After bringing out a few pieces of tissue paper, he smiled. "Thanks guys! I love it." Inside the bag were all sorts of different kinds of candy. It went from chocolate to sour to sweet to gummies. He looked away and gave each girl a heartfelt hug. Guess who was going to get sugar high tonight? Oh yeah, this guy.

"You're present will come soon," was all Richard said and Yugi was left wondering what it was.

The day passed by in a blur. Yugi was wished happy birthday by pretty much the whole school, though only Lucy and Eilene got him something. Although, he did get a cookie from the lunch ladies. Everyone did on their birthdays.

Once lunch ended and the four were walking to Eilene's car, Yugi literally being dragged with them, Lucy pouted, "Please? You have to come with us! We haven't hung out for so long!" Her grip on the boy was a bit tight so she wouldn't accidenlty release him, but not tight enough that it would hurt.

"I can't," Yugi rejected but allowed himself to be pulled along with them. "I'm grounded and I have to be home at a certain time or my father will be mad."

Eilene looked over and gave him the puppy eyes, "How 'bout you just call your dad and ask. It is your birthday! He has to say yes. Come on, pleeeease?" She dragged out the word and her bottom lip quivered.

Yugi looked over to Richard for help but he just shrugged, "I kind of have to go along with what she says. Besides, I kind of agree with them; we haven't hung out after school for a long time now. Maybe your dad will let you come." He said with another shrug.

The foreigner bit his lip. As much as he wanted to hang out with them, he had to go home. His father wouldn't allow him to be with his friends after school and he was still angry about him coming home late the other day. And he hated asking his father for things, whatever they may be. But… what did he have to lose?

"Alright," he sighed and heard the two girls whisper 'yes.' "But, I'll need to borrow someone's phone."

Immediately, Lucy dug into her purse and produced a pink iPhone in which she gave to him.

Yugi took it and dialed his father's work number. (He has no idea how he even remembered the number). He put it up to his ear as Lucy released his arm and let him wander a little away to talk to his father in private. The others got into the car and were waiting patiently for him. Eilene has turned her car on and cranked up the music so it was blaring Country music. He rolled his eyes but he was a good distance away so the loud music wouldn't affect his hearing.

After the second ring, a familiar voice answered.

"Hey… dad?" Yugi tried to sound as casual as possible. He hated that he had to ask his father to hang out with his friends, but it needed to be done.

There was a slight pause and then Chokichi's voice came on, almost sounding annoyed, "_What do you want? I thought I told you not to call me at work. This better be important."_

Yugi paused. His father never did tell him he wasn't supposed to call him at work. But, he held his tongue and said, "It is. I was wondering if I could hang out with my friends for a couple of hours."

"_And why would I let you do that?" _He asked. "_You haven't been good."_

The teen bit his lip to keep himself from yelling at the man. He needed to keep cool. So, as calmly as he could, he said, "I know, but I haven't hung out with my friends for a long time. I just want to hang out with them for a couple of hours and that's it. Please?"

"_That's not a logical excuse," _he answered.

Yugi looked down at the grass and tried to think of something to say. What would make his father say yes that didn't involve him getting mad. If he got him mad, then there'd be no doubt Chokichi would say no. But..."Have I ever asked you to do anything before?" He suddenly blurted out.

There was a pause on the other side. Paper work and a monotone swarm of voices could be heard from the daily activity that was his work as he thought about what he was going to say next. "_And why are you suddenly asking me if you can go out? Wouldn't you do it regardless of my answer?" _He asked.

Good question. Why was Yugi asking him for? His answer was short and simple.

"Because. I don't want you hurting my mom."

"_Huh, fair enough." _He said, understanding the answer, even though he didn't like it. _"Fine, you can go. But you need to be back home by five." _And then he hung up without another word.

Yugi grinned to himself and he walked over to the blue jeep. He hopped in, placing his backpack down by his feet and handed Lucy her phone back. Eilene turned the music way down, but still loud enough for them all to hear. "He said yes." He said and buckled his seat belt up.

"Sweet!" Lucy almost yelled as she punched her fist in the air. She tucked her phone back into her purse. Eilene started the engine and she backed her baby out of the parking lot just as Lucy turned around in her seat and said, "You are _so _going down in Call of Duty!"

XxxxX

"See you tomorrow, Yugi!"

Yugi waved to his friends as Eilene was driving away from having dropped him off at his house. They had spent all their time playing video games and pigging out on the Yugi's birthday gift (it took a long time to insist that they help him eat it because he wouldn't be able to eat it all). It was a fun day to spend your afternoon, way better than just staying at home looking for something to do. And he was sad to see it end so suddenly for him.

As he watched them drive away, still waving, he turned around (once they were out of sight) and started up the driveway to go to the house when he noticed something. In the driveway, where his father's car would usually be parked when he was home, was a red SUV van.

He frowned, knowing that the car looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place who owned it.

'_Well, it's in our driveway, so who ever owns the car will be inside with mom.' _He thought and continued for the front door. Just as he was reaching it, his face set in a frown as he pondered on who owned the car, the front door opened and an elderly lady stood at the door.

"Well, it's about time you're home, mister." The lady said as she gave him a playful scowl.

Yugi looked up and his face broke out into a grin. "Grandma!" He threw his arms around her like a little kid and hugged her tightly. It had been a while since they last saw each other and he had grown a deep liking for her.

Barbra smiled and hugged her grandson back, "Hello, Yugi. Have a good time with your friends?"

They parted and he nodded. Together, they entered the house and Barbra closed the door and followed her grandson into the living room.

"Yup. We played video games and I'm sad to say, I kept losing." He said and frowned. He laid his bag down by the couch and hugged his mom who was walking out of the kitchen. "And I kept losing to a girl."

Miyuki raised an eyebrow as she hugged him back. "And what's so bad about losing to a girl, hm?" They parted and she put her hands on her hips in a way to show that she was joking but still wanted an answer.

Yugi grinned easily, "Nothing, nothing at all."

The mom just rolled her eyes as Yugi looked over to his grandma who was watching the scene with smiling eyes. Curiously, he asked, "So grandma, I don't mean to sound rude, but why are you here? Did something happen?"

She smiled and shook her head, "Oh dear, apparently you forgot what today is, huh? Must be brain dead from losing to a girl." Miyuki softly laughed as she agreed with the other woman.

Yugi noticed that they weren't glaring at one another or give each other the cold shoulder. Barbra must have been here for a while for them to be getting along like how they were. That's good.

Barbra continued, "I'm taking y'all out to dinner to celebrate your eighteenth birthday." She said. She looked over at the clock and slightly frowned, "That is, whenever your father gets home."

As if on cue, the door opened and Chokichi walked in, his brief case in hand. He looked tired and a bit annoyed but when he noticed who was in his home, his expressions cleared up and was replaced by surprise. "Mother, what're you doing here?" He asked and walked into the living room but first putting his brief case down by the table.

Barbra frowned, "What, am I not allowed to come and visit?" Then her face softened up before he could reply and she said, "Go get cleaned up; I'm taking you all out for dinner."

"What for?"

"Can I not just take my family out for a celebration?" With the look she received from her son, she looked at him with disbelief, "Don't tell me you forgot about your own son's birthday." When he didn't say anything, she took that as a yes. "For crying out loud, he's your only son and he's turning eighteen. I can't believe you forgot!"

Chokichi looked over at his son who was looking at him with a curious expression. The look didn't mean anything but Chokichi gave a small glare at him. He turned back to his mother and nodded, "Yeah yeah." Was all he said.

Mentally, Yugi was kind of enjoying this. His father, for once, was being told to do something that he had no control of. That moment was lost however from what his grandma said next.

Barbra nodded, not satisfied but knew that was all she was going to get out of him. Scowling him like a child, she said, "Now go get dressed and washed up; we have reservations at a nice restaurant." Then she looked over to Yugi with a hard stare that made him squirm a bit, "And you too, mister. Go get into something nice."

Once the men left the room, Barbra looked over to Miyuki who was hiding a smile and rolled her eyes. "Boys," she said. "Can't live with them -,"

"Can't live without them." Miyuki finished, totally agreeing with her.

XxxxX

"I must say, that was an amazing dinner," Barbra said as they all walked out of the restaurant after eating a marvelous meal. They had been at the restaurant for nearly two hours, eating and having a good time. Their bellies were full and they were all at peace. They even had a waitress bring Yugi a cake that said 'Happy Birthday!' on it and with a party hat that he had to wear. It was fun.

And oddly enough, Chokichi didn't complain or made any side comments. He acted as though he had never done anything to his wife and kid and acted like the perfect husband. Yugi couldn't tell if he was just acting because his mom was here and watching or if it was just his own father was actually enjoying himself. It was hard to tell. But, either way, Yugi wasn't complaining. He liked this side of his father not only because he was treating him and his mom nicely, but because he was actually talking about something other than work or bills or what he (Yugi) did wrong.

Yugi nodded his head in agreement. "Yes, it was delicious. Thank you!" He hugged his grandma as tightly as he could, happy that she had come and paid for dinner. He slipped the hat off of his head and held onto it in his hand. A look over to his mom and he noticed she was smiling at him.

"You're welcome, honey." She said and hugged him back. Before they made it any farther away from the door, she looked at her grandson and said, "Yugi, I need to talk to you." She held a smile on her face, but her eyes were expression that this talk was important. Barbra looked over and saw Chokichi and Miyuki looking curious and she waved them away, "In private, if you don't mind." Making sure he was following, Barbra led her grandson over to the side, and out of ear shot from the other two.

Yugi noticed that they had stopped by the restaurant's fenced off garden and that there was a bench to sit on. But they didn't sit on it. Instead, Barbra turned to her grandson, making sure that her own son couldn't see what she was doing.

"What did you need to talk about?" Yugi asked curiosity evident in his voice.

Barbra fished something from her purse that she had slung over her shoulder. "I know something is going on at home," she said, not bothering to look up as she talked, "I don't know what it is, but I just know something bad is happening, even if I do not know how bad it is."

Yugi remained quiet, unsure on how to reply. She was right, things were bad. Then he thought of something to ask, admitting that she was right, "How can you tell?"

At this, the elderly woman looked up with a raised eyebrow. "I may be old, but I'm not _that _old. I can tell when things are tense around my son. And trust me, he's tense." She went back to looking, although when Yugi caught a glimpse of the inside of her bag, he wondered how she was digging; the whole bag was organized.

She continued, "I would do something, but I am waiting for Chokichi to come to me with his problems, whatever they may be. He needs to know that he can trust me. That is why I haven't done anything yet." Suddenly, she found what she was looking for and brought out a white envelope. She handed it to her grandson who carefully took it.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Yugi opened the envelope and his eyes widened. He looked up at his grandma, confused. "Why -,"

Barbra cut him off, "I know how bad you wanted to return home. I may not know the exact reason why my son had brought you here, but I don't see a reason why you need to be here, not that I'm trying to get rid of you or say you're not allowed to be here. I love you being here, in fact." She smiled. "There should be a thousand in the envelope, enough for two tickets to get from here to Japan."

Yugi looked down at the money in the envelope. He couldn't believe his grandma had just given him money so he could leave with his mom to go back home. He bit his lip. Should he tell her about why his father brought him here? The real reason? How did she even know that he wanted to go back? It had been some weeks since he last saw her.

As if reading his mind, Barbra said, "I remembered our outing we did together when I had picked you up for breakfast that one morning. While you were talking about your friends and school, I noticed this depressed aura around you. I knew you wanted to go home. And while I was waiting for you and Chokichi to come home this evening, I was talking with your mother. What she said confirmed my thoughts. She said you were wanting to go home."

"But-," Once again, Yugi was cut off.

"Just say thank you and we'll be done with this." She said, her face softening. "I can tell my son is keeping you both here against your will and I will be having a talk with him soon." She leaned forward and kissed her grandson's forehead, "Just accept it. And promise me that when you've bought the tickets, you call me and let me know you're leaving. I can already see that you'll be wanting to leave as soon as you can."

Yugi nodded and hugged her close to him. His eyes started to well up with tears but he didn't let them come. "Don't worry, I'll call you. Thank you." She had just given him money because she knew he wanted to return home. She didn't ask any questions, not one at all. And all she was asking for in return was a phone call. Was having grandma's the best or what?

XxxxX

Until next time! And don't worry, something big will happen. Things are going to be moving along quite nicely!


	33. Time To Escape Or Suffer The Consequence

**This chapter is sort of exciting and it picks up a lot of the pace of the story.**

**Lisa: We're getting closer and closer to the end of the story! **

**I know! I can't wait but then I can! **

**Lisa: Please enjoy the chapter and feel free to criticize anything (as long as it's not flames. Because if it is, I see a grave with your name on it!) **

**Lisa! You're not supposed to say that!**

**Lisa: I didn't say it! It was in parenthesis! You weren't supposed to see it! **

**Well I did! Now take it back!**

**Lisa: No! Enjoy the chapter as I run!**

**Come back here!**

**Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Nor any of its characters, just my own. **

Chapter Thirty-One

The weekend had come and gone. Yugi was able to pay Kyo the money without his father finding out and without having too much trouble with the bank. Although, they asked a lot of questions that he ended up staying there for well over two hours. Questions retaining to security and identity purposes. Thank Ra he had an excuse for his father that he was studying with his friends to make up for the long period of being absent.

After he had paid Kyo, he never saw the man again. He was told by him that they would leave his father alone. They gave Yugi their word, so he felt a little better.

With that part already out of the way, things became easier. Well, with planning that is.

As of now, Yugi was in his room. It was Monday and it was a holiday, meaning no school. His mom also got the day off but his father didn't. He wanted to stay and finish working on this project for work. He wasn't going to come home until five, his usual time. Yugi didn't mind though, it just made things easier for him.

'_Where to start…' _Yugi thought, looking around his room. His mom was in the kitchen, making sandwiches for lunch. She had no clue on what her child was thinking and how fast things were about to change.

As Yugi pulled out one of his bags from under his bed, he heard a tapping noise on his door. Frowning, he got up from his knees as he was kneeling down on the floor and crossed his room to the window. He had it locked with the curtains pulled over it. Pulling the curtains back, Yugi was staring straight into narrow colored amber eyes. (1)

"Bakura?" He asked, confused, even though said name probably wouldn't be able to hear him due to glass separating them.

But apparently, the thief did hear him because he barked impatiently, "Open the damn window." His words were a bit muffled, but still understandable.

Yugi did as he was told and unlocked the window before sliding it wide open. The silver haired teen put both hands on the wood and pushed on it to pull his weight up. Yugi stepped to the side just as Bakura swung his legs over and hopped down from the window sill once he was inside the house.

"What're you doing here?" Yugi wasted no time in asking.

Bakura just casted him a glare and said, "It's time you owe me."

"Owe you? Owe you what?"

He walked around the room, examining his surroundings like this was his first time in Yugi's room. He reached the desk where a picture frame was. He picked it up and studied the photo. It was of Yugi, his mom, his father and an elderly woman, smiling big as they sat in some kind of restaurant. The father though, wasn't smiling like he was having fun but like he was faking the smile.

Bakura continued to look at the picture and said, "You owe me one, because I helped your sorry ass back in Japan and two, you owe me because I made sure you didn't die when you got here." He placed the frame back on the desk and turned to face Yugi who understood.

"Right…" He mumbled. How could he forget about owing Bakura for basically saving his life not once, but twice? He opened his mouth to ask him what he wanted when an idea came to him. He didn't know if it was true, but he had a guess and had a feeling that it was. "You need money for a plane ticket, don't you?"

Bakura didn't say anything except for deepening his glare.

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Of course you do. Do you realize that plane tickets are a lot of money?"

"Duh, that's why I haven't bought one yet."

Yugi didn't say anything. He should have known that Bakura would come to him when he wanted to return home. But, there was nothing he could do. He did owe him whatever he wanted.

"Alright, I'll give you the money, but," Bakura frowned. There was always a but with people that owe you. Yugi continued, "You'll have to stay for lunch."

Bakura switched to having a shocked/surprised expression. "What?" He asked. That didn't make any sense. Why the hell would the runt want him to stay for lunch? But before he could ask, Yugi was already leaving his room with a plan forming on top of his plan.

When he reached the hallway leading towards the living room, he called out, "Hey, mom? Is it alright if Bakura stays for lunch?"

XxxxX

Sitting at the table was Yugi, his mom sitting right across from him and Bakura, who was sitting next to him. They all had sandwiches in front of them with some chips and a glass of water. It was quiet between them as they concentrated on eating.

Once Yugi finished half of his cut sandwich, a peanut butter and strawberry sandwich, he pushed his plate aside and launched right into saying, "Mom, you're going back today."

Miyuki looked up from her own sandwich. She finished chewing the bite she had just took and said, "Going back? Back where?" She asked and titled her head a little to the side.

Bakura stayed quiet as he was devouring his second ham and cheese sandwich. He could care less on what was being said.

"You're going back home." Yugi said. Before she could ask him another question, he continued, "I've bought a plane ticket for you and already called a taxi. It should be arriving here in less than thirty minutes. I know it sounds like I'm telling you what to do, but you have to go back to Japan."

Miyuki nodded, not at all affected by her son's orders. In fact, she was a little surprised by it. Her son really was changing. "And what about you? If I leave, you'll be coming with me, right?" She received a shake of the head.

"I'm going to stay an extra few hours to finish some things up." Yugi said. When his mom started to open her mouth to argue, Yugi stopped her, "I have a lot of work here I have to do."

"Like what?" His mom said stiffly, not liking that idea. What on earth did he have to do here?

Yugi looked down at his half, uneaten sandwich. "I have to transfer my bank account back over to Japan, along with everything for school and I want to say bye to the friends I made." Then the thought, '_Not to mention put a restraining order on dad so he would be forced to leave us alone.'_ He looked back up and Miyuki could almost see his eyes pleading with her to just accept it. But she wasn't.

"I'm not going to leave you here with him while I go back to Japan. That's un-mother like not to mention irresponsible and-," Before she could say more Yugi gave her a look that made her quiet.

"I need to stay mom." He said quietly but with the hint of pleading now in his voice. "You don't. Besides, it'll be easier if you left now because then dad can't threaten me with anyone. I know you can take care of yourself," he continued on when he saw a look of hurt enter his mom's eyes, "I've seen you prove it, but when he threatens you when I'm around, I can't stand it. If you're gone, he has no one to hurt. I don't care if he threatens me. And anyways, I won't be here alone."

"You won't?"

Yugi shook his head. "Bakura will be staying with me."

Said name looked up from starring at Yugi's un-touched sandwich with a confused frown. "I am?" Being careful, Yugi kicked the albino in the knee as he kept the same, unreadable expression. He grunted in pain and glared at Yugi as he said, "Ah, right… I am."

Miyuki looked between the two and bit her lip. "I can't only have a teenager stay, honey. No offense, Bakura." She said.

Bakura shrugged.

Yugi nodded, already prepared for this statement. Without even having to ask, he slid his plate over to Bakura, sensing that he was still hungry. "I know. That's why I called Jii-chan to come."

"You did?" She asked, surprised. "When did you call him? Is he already here?"

Shaking his head, Yugi said, "I called him yesterday night. He told me that he could take the next flight out. And as of now, he should be on the plane, maybe five hours from here. And yes, I already gave him directions here." Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Bakura happily chomping down on the peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwich. His own plate was already cleaned off, including the chips that had been placed there.

Still, Miyuki wasn't sure. "I can't Yugi… It wouldn't feel right to just leave you here."

Yugi's face softened, "It won't feel the same without you here either. But, this needs to get done, mom. We're so close to going home. Please, I'll be a couple of hours behind you on a plane." He didn't even have to use his puppy dog eyes. Because within a couple of minutes, his mother finally agreed to it.

"Alright, I'll go. But, how will this work?" She looked over to the clock on the stove. They had four hours before Chokichi would get off of work and come home. If he noticed she was gone, he would throw a fit.

That was where Yugi smiled. He already had figured everything out. "Just pack a suitcase and leave everything to me." Going unnoticed to everyone, he had his fingers crossed underneath the table while he was talking.

XxxxX

It didn't take very long for Miyuki to pack one suitcase pull of things she was going to need (And things Yugi would most likely forget about when he would continue to pack everything later). As of now, she and Yugi were outside waiting for the taxi to arrive, which should be any minute. In one hand, she had the ticket that her son had somehow managed to buy without her even knowing and her other hand was empty.

"You sure your grandfather is coming," She asked for the millionth time since her son had told her the news.

Yugi nodded, making sure she couldn't see his fingers cross behind his back. "Yes, I'm positive."

Miyuki nodded and bit her lip, suddenly feeling nervous. She looked along the road, just expecting to see her husband to pull up and force them back into the house. "I don't know about this. It just feels weird…"

"I know." Yugi agreed. There was a first time for everything, and this was his first time in running away, or whatever you wanted to call it. Inside, he was also feeling a bit nervous. What if his plans didn't work out? What happens if his father somehow found out and came by and made it impossible for his mom to leave?

But, before he could question his movements, a yellow taxi cab turned down the street and was coming towards them. It slowed down to a stop right in front of them and the driver of the cab rolled the passenger's window down. "You the Muttohs?" He asked his words a bit sloppy.

Yugi wanted to glare at the man for mispronouncing their last name but kept calm and corrected him, "Mutou. But yes, we are." He turned to his mother and hugged her tight. "Don't worry, everything will go smoothly."

"Promise?" She asked and hanged him back even tighter.

He nodded. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I'll make sure nothing happens and that he," indicating Chokichi, "doesn't follow us and try to harm us."

They parted and he noticed that his mom had tears in her eyes. "Alright. Just… just be careful, baby. And I'll see you at home soon." She opened the cab's back door and got in. Yugi handed her her bag and closed her door. As he was stepping off of the curb, Miyuki rolled the window down and said, "I love you."

Yugi smiled, feeling his heart being squeezed by an invisible hand. "I love you too, mom." He held his hand up and kissed his fingers just as the cab started to drive away. Before he lost track of it, he saw his mom do the same thing.

When the taxi cab was finally out of sight, Yugi turned around and headed up the driveway to the house, all the while grimacing. "Now that that's out of the way, time for the complicated parts."

XxxxX

Once he was inside the house, Yugi made his way to his parent's room. That was where he found Bakura aimlessly walking around like he was part of the undead. Yugi didn't even acknowledge him as he went straight for the closet and started to sort through the clothes, looking for what was his mom's and pulling them out.

Bakura followed but didn't help. Instead, he looked annoyed and when he talked, his voice was a little grouchy. "You weren't serious about me staying with you, were you Mutt?" He asked and leaned against the doorway so he was in the closet and still in the bedroom.

Without bothering to look away from what he was doing, Yugi shook his head, "No, I don't. You already have your ticket so why would I tell you to stay?"

The albino raised one eyebrow and smirked, "Wow, you're starting to lie very nicely. I couldn't even tell that you were lying. I never thought the day would come that you could lie without stuttering." The other stayed quiet, not at all happy that he had to lie to his mom about something important. Bakura continued on, "But you're right, I do have my ticket already. And my plane arrives in a couple of hours. There's no doubt I'm not staying. But what about your ol' gramps? Is he actually coming or did you lie about that too?"

Once again, Yugi remained silent. He picked up all of the clothes that he dropped to the floor and brushed past Bakura to drop the clothes on the bed. He emptied out the closet, now it was time for all of the drawers and other things.

Bakura's smirk got wider, "I'm actually proud of you. Not only did you lie once, but you lied _twice_-,"

"Shut up!" Yugi said in an annoyed voice as he cut him off. He wouldn't admit it, but the other was really starting to get on his nerves. He turned towards him and said, "Look, I only did that so my mom wouldn't worry about me. It's not like I was going to stay here for a couple of days anyways." He said and returned back to what he was doing; gather his mother's clothes from the drawers. "What I did tell my mom about staying for a couple of hours, that's true. I have to get some important things done and then I'll leave."

It was quiet for maybe a minute when Bakura said, "So, what happens when your mom gets back home and finds that your grandpa is still there?"

Yugi shrugged, "Hopefully, I'll be able to call in advance and tell Jii-chan that I'm already on a plane heading home and that there's nothing to worry about."

"And if you're not able to call in advance? Then what?"

Yugi stopped pulling the clothes from the dresser and turned to the old thief with a slightly amused expression, "Why so many questions? You usually don't care about any of this."

Bakura glared at the teen and stiffly said, "I don't want to be lectured by your mother when I get back home on why you're not here. It's better to know things so I can be prepared for all of the questions."

Inside, Yugi rolled his eyes and thought, '_Sure, Bakura, just keep telling yourself that.' _He shook his head and out loud changed the subject, "So what time does your plane arrive?"

"Four-thirty." He answered.

Yugi nodded. His dad would be coming home around five. Hopefully, he (Yugi) would be able to get everything done. He managed to fold and pack all of the clothes into two suitcases and started to collect things like jewelry, pictures, shoes and some others. As he was doing so, he asked, "Aren't you going to go back and pack your things?"

"Nope. They're already packed." Yugi looked up with a questioning look but stayed quiet.

As Bakura watched the tri-haired kid busy himself, he directed the conversation back to what they were talking about before, "So, what happens if something happens and you're not able to make it on the plane?"

"Like what?" Yugi asked and disappeared into the bathroom.

"The hell should I know?"

When Yugi reappeared, carrying some of his mother's things, he paused and thought about it. "Well, I really doubt anything will happen." He noticed that the other was about to argue so he continued, "But if something were to happen, like if my father did come home and I was still here, then I don't know." He walked back over to the bed and dropped the things into the bags. So far he was almost done with packing. Just a couple of small items left of his mom's and then he'd be done with her.

Bakura glared at Yugi and he noticed. "What?" But the albino didn't reply to it. Instead, he kept the glare, making Yugi squirm a bit. Finally, not being able to take much of that, he said, "Fine, I'll call you when I'm on the plane heading home. Alright? And if don't get a call from me, then you know something happened."

For the next thirty minutes, Bakura watched Yugi run around the house, packing his mom's things and then his own. He wouldn't help, had more fun watching as the runt jumped from one room to the next and then back, but he stayed out of the way. He was as of now sitting in the living room, flipping through a magazine when Yugi walked in with two packed suitcases and placed them by two other's by the door.

"Shouldn't you be leaving soon?" He asked when he looked at the clock.

Bakura lazily looked up and saw the time on the clock. "I guess," he and tossed the magazine he was reading to the side. He stood up and stretched his arms and back. He then looked around. "Well, see you when you get back to Japan." He said and started to walk towards the door.

Yugi was close behind him and when they reached the door, he stopped his friend by saying, "Thanks for everything, Bakura."

Said name unlocked and opened the door before looking over his shoulder, "Yeah, yeah. Just don't cause any trouble while I'm away."

Yugi rolled his eyes, "What makes you think that I would?"

"You're related to the pharaoh, aren't you?" When Yugi didn't say anything, he continued, "Right. See you whenever."

Yugi watched as his only friend left the house. Like when his mom left, he felt something squeeze inside of him. He didn't know how to explain it, but after seeing Bakura leave, he could almost sense something bad was going to happen.

Closing the door and locking it, Yugi turned around and headed towards his father's office. Besides him needing to retrieve his phone –he couldn't find it anywhere in the parents room so he figured it was in the office- he knew he was going to need to transfer his school records and bank account. And by doing so, he was in need of a computer and a phone.

Luckily for him, the office was left unlocked. Ever since Yugi had told his father about entering the office, Chokichi only left the office locked whenever something important was in there. If nothing major, then he left it unlocked. He didn't feel the need to keep it locked. And as for the computer, he placed a lock on it so his son wouldn't be able to access it. But, little did he know, Yugi had a friend hack into his father's password.

"Now, on to the hard parts," Yugi mumbled as he sat down in the comfortable chair and 'woke' the computer up. He typed his father's password in, which happened to be Family, and had complete access to the internet.

XxxxX

Without realizing it, Yugi had been on the computer for well over an hour. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock. His mom had been on the plane for over an hour and it looked like Bakura was now just boarding his. And if things still went smoothly, Yugi would be boarding his own plane in two hours.

"Alright, with school and the bank done, I have a couple of things left to do." He said to himself. He successfully transferred all of the important things –finding it easy for school and a bit challenging for his bank- back to Japan and only had to make four phone calls. It was a little easier to do than what he thought it would have been.

"Now what do I do…?" He asked and shut the computer down to make it look like he hadn't been on it, even though it wouldn't have mattered. Turning in the computer chair, Yugi stood up and started to walk back towards the door to make sure he wasn't forgetting anything, like clothes, personal items, or anything else when something caught the corner of his eye. When he turned, he smiled. "Piece of cake," he whispered. There, sitting on the filing cabinet near the door was a small back cell phone. On the cover of it had a yellow Y sticker that needed to be replaced. But, he knew that it was his.

Pocketing the phone, Yugi left the room and went to his own.

As he was looking around the bare room, he didn't find anything that was his that wasn't already packed up. His blankets, clothes, school items, pictures and a few other items were already packed away. He didn't want to leave anything behind. His school text books were on the desk with a note that said, 'Please return to Breaksville High School or you'll have to owe them money.' He didn't have time to return the books himself and if he did, they teachers would be a little confused on why he was returning them in the middle of the year.

"There's nothing in here that I need," he softly told himself. "This is my last time here." He felt a small smile tug at the corners of his lips as he turned around and headed back to the living room. Sitting next to the door were all five suit cases plus a backpack that Yugi would be carrying as a hand bag. He knew everything was packed because he already checked, doubled check and tripled check to make sure. Now, all he had to do was wait until the taxi he called ten minutes ago to come and pick him and everything up so he could go to the school to say his final goodbyes.

The day before, he called Eilene, when his father wasn't looking, and told her to bring Lucy and Richard over to the school. When they asked why, he told them it was because he was finally going back to Japan and this would be the last time he saw them. That freaked Eilene out and she promised she would be over. Now, he just had to wait until the time came so he could leave.

As he sat on the couch waiting, he brought his phone out of his pocket and turned it on. He should have been surprised that when it came alive, there were many texts and missed calls, but he wasn't. Should he be?

Sorting through the texts first, he realized half of them belonged to Atem and Tea. When he looked at the date they were sent, he realized they were a day after his phone had been taken by his father. The rest of the texts were just from friends that were asking him how he was and a number he didn't recognize at first.

"Oh, that's Eilene's number." He muttered out loud. He had given the chick his actual cell phone number in case. He quickly added it to his phone contacts and sent a message to her.

To: Eilene

From: Yugi

_Hey, this is Yugi. Finally got my phone back. Still meeting at the school?_

He pushed send and then went through his missed calls, noticing that one or two were from Atem and the rest were unknown numbers in which he erased. He flipped his phone shut and leaned back into the couch. He stared up at the ceiling and closed his eyes.

'_After two months, I finally get to return home.' _He thought. It felt like there was weight being lifted off of his shoulders as the words finally sunk in. He smiled in relief. '_This feels a lot different than what I thought it would have felt like. I thought it would feel like everything was going to be rushed and exciting. Now, it just feels yes, rushed, but it felt like I've done this before. Maybe it was because I over thought what it would be like to finally escape that I was expecting more excitement.' _He mentally shrugged his shoulders as a sigh escaped his lips. '_I'm finally going home! I finally get to see Atem, my friends, my school, Jii-chan and Iggi.' _As he thought about his dog, he felt something clench in his stomach. '_That is… If Iggi is alright. Every time I tried asking Atem, he was always cut off. What happens if something really big happened to him?' _

He never got to live that moment up or think it through because the sound of a key sliding into the locks was heard.

Yugi's eyes flashed open and he sat straight up in his seat. His eyes immediately sought out the clock on the wall. It was only four oh seven. His father wasn't supposed to be back for another hour. Why was he already home? Panic swelled inside of him just as the door opened and the man that owned the house walked in. And the first thing he saw was the suitcases all packed and just waiting by the door.

Chokichi looked away from the bags and glared over at his son. His lip curled and he said in a low voice as he shut and locked the door behind him, "And why… are those bags sitting there?"

Yugi slowly stood up from the couch and said in a calm voice, "They're waiting for a taxi to come and take them." He said, hiding his fear with much ease that he was a little surprised. His father walked into the room and set his bag next to the table, all the while keeping his eyes on his son. Yugi continued, "I'm leaving." He slipped his phone into his pocket just as he felt a vibration coming from it. He ignored it though.

"And what makes you think that you can?" Chokichi asked with a raised eyebrow. He took a step towards his son.

Standing his ground, the teen felt his mouth go dry. He swallowed a few times before saying, "You're not going to stop me. I'm eighteen and I'm now a legal adult. You can't keep me here like a child."

Chokichi's eyes narrowed and then he smiled, though it came out more as a smirk, "Oh really. We'll just see what your mom says to that."

Now it was Yugi's time to smirk and he crossed his arms against his chest, "Go ahead. Ask her."

There was a crease on the father's forehead as he watched his son. Something wasn't right.

Before he could say anything, Yugi continued, "Mom isn't here anymore." He saw anger flash in his father's eyes but ignored it. "I sent her home already. And that was about three to four hours ago. She's long gone."

"Why you little-!"

Yugi cut him off before he could continue, "Say all you want. But now, you can't threaten me with her. There's nothing you can do. This game you put on, father, it's over. I'm no longer going to be a part of it." He heard a few doors being closed to a car. He assumed it belonged to the neighbors and he ignored it. "You just wasted money by bringing me and mom here, when you could have saved it and tried to get rid of the debts you owe. And what made you think that you could have gotten away with taking my money?" He asked anger growing inside of him as things were finally being released. "You should have done your research to know that Jii-chan's name was on the account instead of moms. You were dumb for that.

"And if there's even a next time, next time, whenever something like this happens to you, you should try and confront your mother about this." He said. "She's told me that she knew something was happening to you, but she was waiting for you to come to her. She would have helped you with the money if you had just asked."

Chokichi listened to his kid, all the while having his own anger grow. It wasn't only because of what his kid was saying but also because what he said, actually made sense. He should have just gone to his mother, but, there's nothing more embarrassing then running to your mom with your tail between your legs and asking for help. He felt the anger boiling of inside him because of his child and because of him.

Yugi watched as he tried to calm down. "And you know, if maybe you had just gotten to know me better and actually acted like my father, maybe I could have helped more."

"What are you talking about, 'help more'?" Chokichi sneered.

Taking a deep breath, Yugi said, "Help more as in paying for more." When he was getting a blank expression, he took a deep breath and said, "I got Kyo off of your back by paying him the ten thousand you owed him." That surprised his father. And then, a look of suspicion crossed his face.

"And why would you do that?"

"They threatened to hurt mom and I wasn't up for that. So I paid them the amount they needed so that they would leave." And just to be certain, he added, "And I don't expect a thank you." It would have been weird if his father thanked him.

Chokichi glared and said, "Wasn't even planning on it." He took another step forward, "And so you know, just because you paid off one of my debts, don't think you'll get away with only that. I still need help with the other set." He took another step followed by another.

Yugi was well aware that his father was getting closer and closer to him but he stood his ground. Without giving away too much, he loosened his arms a little. "Then go to your mom and ask her. I think you've got enough out of me."

"Look, I'm not going to have these past few months go to ruin." He said a little gruffly. "I have fed you, clothed you and put a roof over your head -,"

"Because I didn't have a choice!" Yugi argued back.

Chokichi silenced him with a threatening look and said, "I expect something in return." He was now dangerously close to his son. All that was in between them was a couple of feet.

Yugi shook his head, "I already helped pay for some of your debt and I will not help you pay for anything else. This was your choice and quite frankly, I think you would have done a lot better if you had just left me in Japan." Without giving any kind of warning, Yugi dashed to the side to escape.

But his father was already tense and was waiting for some kind of movement. As his son was about to slip past him, he reached out and grabbed his arm. But his son danced around the hand and kept running towards the door.

Even though Yugi was going to need to grab the bags, he knew that if he grabbed them right now, then his father would catch him and make it impossible to escape. He'd have to leave them for now and hopefully come back later with grandma or someone else.

"I'm not going to let you just leave!" Yugi heard his father yell. And before he even had time to reply, he felt something hit him in the back, causing him to be pulled to the floor. And 'oof' escaped from him as did his father as they landed on the hard floor.

"Let me go!" Yugi yelped as his father started to get to his feet, hauling his son up with him by the back of the teen's shirt.

Chokichi was about to comment when his son kicked backwards, hitting him in a place no guy liked to be kicked in, resulting in letting his son go. As Yugi wiggled free from his father's grasp, Chokichi slightly bent over from the pain. But he had a pissed off expression about him and he never gave his child the satisfaction of thinking he'd escape.

Before Yugi was able to even make it to the door, he felt his shirt being pulled and then he was lifted off of his feet. He didn't even have time to register that his father had actually lifted him up and threw him. But, apparently, his father wasn't paying any attention as to where he was throwing because Yugi came in contact with something hard and heard the sound of glass breaking behind him and a sharp pain enter his left arm before everything went dark.

**XxxxX Until next time! Hehehe, cliffy!**

**1.] That is Bakura's new eye color! :o I know I keep changing it, but it's always near brown. So as of now, I declare his eye's to be amber in my stories. **

**Just a random comment, but in chapter 16, the part where Chokichi took Yugi out of school and when they are talking in the car, I added and took out a few sentences. I was re-reading a few reviews and I noticed that some of y'all said that Yugi gave up too easily. I sort of changed that. If you want to go back and see what I wrote, I would love to hear what you have to say. **


	34. Back In Domino City

**I dedicate this chapter to newby6320 because she figured something out without even realizing it. I didn't think it would be that noticeable, o.o, ****But, congrats on figuring it out!**

**Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Nor any of its characters, just my own. Though t would be awesome to owe such an amazing anime/manga! **

**Warning: There will be some cursing. I'm sorry to those who don't like cursing, but to me, it seems more realist for a certain person to cuss. There's no point, but that's just how I see it. Please don't be mad. This is just how I see the character. **

Chapter Thirty-Two

**Miyuki's POV**

The flight was long and tiring, but it felt good to be home, on her native country's soil. To have the normal Japanese language fill her ears instead of English was the same way, not that she didn't like English. She loved it, but it grew tiresome because she had think about what people were saying since she wasn't as accustom to English the way her son and need-to-soon-be ex-husband was. But now, she didn't have to worry about it since she was home.

"Miss, we're here." The cab driver said as he pulled up to the familiar game shop known as the Kame Game.

Miyuki looked away from the happy sight of her home and pulled out some money for the ride from the airport to here. Then she grabbed her only bag, thanked the man, and left the cab. As soon as she closed the door, the driver drove away without looking back.

"Thank the gods I'm home." She sighed in relief as she walked over to the door. The shop was closed so she fished into her pocket where she found her keys –which she always kept with her- and unlocked the door. It was a bit strange that the shop was closed on a weekday evening, (A/N If I guess right, it should be the morning or early afternoon of Tuesday. But let's just go with evening.) But then again, Solomon wasn't here.

Once she was in the house, she slipped her shoes off. It was rather quiet. And dark. '_Huh, Atem must be out with friends or upstairs.' _She thought to herself and put her bag and keys down on the side table next to the front door. She started to walk towards the stairs when the sound of a pot hit another pot was heard in the kitchen. '_Or he's in the kitchen.' _She smiled.

"Atem?" She called out in a normal voice. She quickened her pace, wanting to see her second son.

The noise stopped and instead, the pots clattered to the kitchen's countertop.

Miyuki never made it to the kitchen when a certain someone ran to the entrance of the kitchen and stopped. When his eyes caught sight of Miyuki, his mouth dropped open as he stared wide-eyed at the women.

"M-mom?" Atem asked, not believing what he was seeing. There was confusion on his face.

Said name smiled warmly and walked over to her son. "Hey, honey. I'm finally home." But before she could hug her son, he threw his arms around her small frame and hugged her tight.

"It's so good to see you!" He said. The confusion was gone and in its place was happiness. After two months, she was finally home. Thank Ra.

Miyuki smiled. "As you." She hugged him tight and gave him one last squeeze before releasing him to look straight at him. He still looked the same as ever, maybe just a little tired. Nothing about him changed in the last few months.

Before she could ask him anything, Atem beat her to it. He looked around, looking for his brother but when he didn't find him, he got confused, "Where's Yugi?" He asked, looking around again, thinking he had missed him.

Miyuki looked a little confused, "He's still back in Texas, though he should be on a plane right now," she answered and checked her watch for the time. If Yugi was correct with what he had told her, he should be at least be a couple of hours into his flight, if not more.

Atem frowned and stopped his search to look at her. "He didn't leave with you? Why not?"

"Didn't Solomon tell you?"

"Tell me what?" A cheerful voice suddenly sounded, right behind Atem.

Miyuki's eyes widen as she looked over her son's shoulder and saw her father-in-law standing at the doorway. He was wearing a happy expression and a bit of surprised was mixed in, but nonetheless, he looked happy. The sight of him caused her heart to nearly stop.

"W-why are you here?" She whispered, not noticing her voice softened and the fear that laced in with her words.

Solomon tilted his head to the side, all happiness gone from the tone of voice Miyuki was using. "What do you mean?" He asked. Something in the pit of his stomach turned painfully. His daughter didn't look so good and that wasn't a good sign. She started to look a little pale.

Miyuki looked over to her son and found him as confused as his grandfather. Suddenly, she found herself in need to sit down. Luckily both men noticed and, each grabbing one arm for support, guided her to the couch where she sat down. They both took a seat on either side of her as she hunched over a bit and placed her forehead in her hand.

"Oh no…" She said it in a voice so soft that the other two wouldn't have heard her if they weren't seated right next to her. "No, I should have known." Tears were threatening her eyes but she forced them back, not wanting them to come.

"Known what?" Solomon asked and placed a gentle hand on her back to comfort her. "What's going on?"

Miyuki shook her head and stood up, determination filling her. "I have to go back," she declared. When she noticed the two's confused looks, she explained, "I have to go back to get Yugi." Thoughts of her baby in the same house as Chokichi made her blood run cold. Who knew what could be happening? He could be in the hospital for all she knew!

Solomon grabbed Miyuki's forearm before she could go anywhere and led her back so that she was sitting down. He was getting too confused and had more questions that needed to be answered. And judging by how his daughter-in-law was acting, he needed the answers now.

"Miyuki, tell us from the beginning of what's going on. Where's Yugi and why isn't he with you?"

The woman looked at her hands in her lap and whispered, "He's back with Chokichi." She didn't even have to look at either man to know what they were expressing. She continued on, telling her story, "Yugi told me that I was going home, that he already bought the plane ticket and called the cab to come and pick me up. I was thrilled when he told me, but then I realized he only told me _I _was going home. I asked him what he was doing and he told me that he had a few things he had to get done there. I told him I couldn't just leave him when he told me Bakura was going to be staying with him and they were going to catch a plane back together."

Atem's eyes slightly narrowed. Just mentioning that name, he knew that wasn't what happened. Why would Bakura stay with Yugi when he didn't have too? Something important was missing here.

Miyuki continued and took a deep breath as she tried to calm herself down, "I told him that I didn't want Bakura to be the only one here with him and that I was going to stay. But then he surprised me by stating that you," she looked over to Solomon, "were already on your way. He told me that he called you last night and that you got the earliest flight out. By the time he was telling me this, I calculated that your plane was going to be touching down in about two and a half hour's time. So, I gave in." She shook her head and said, "I can't believe I left him there!"

Solomon was quick to comfort her and said, "Hey, you didn't know. Just look on the bright side of things, he's there with Bakura. He has someone there who he trusts."

'_I'm not so sure about that,' _Atem thought.

"Yes, but what happens if he gets in trouble or if Chokichi comes back? Then what?" Miyuki asked. She felt like pulling her hair out in frustration. "How do I even know if Yugi was telling the truth about Bakura? He's been lying to make things easier. He lied to me about you coming so that I could escape!"

Solomon nodded, understanding her pain. "Alright, I'll take the next plane out and make sure he's alright." He got a look of objection from his daughter-in-law and said, "You're not going. Besides you just getting home, I don't trust my son to kindly let you leave when you get Yugi."

"But -,"

"No buts. I'm going and that's the end of that." Solomon announced and stood up. He looked back down to Miyuki and his face softened, "Don't worry; I'll be home before you know it." He looked over to his grandson to tell him that he was going to be staying here to be with his mom when he didn't find the teen. "Atem?" He looked around, frowning. Miyuki noticed that her son was missing but didn't say anything.

XxxxX

**Atem's POV**

"Let's see what Bakura's really up to," He mumbled under his breath as he quietly walked up the stairs to his bedroom. He hated how he just disappeared from his grandpa and mom when she just got home and needed him, but he needed to find out what exactly was going on. He needed to make sure Yugi was okay. No, he had to make sure his brother was okay.

Once he was in his room, he brought out his black cell phone and flipped it opened. He didn't have Bakura's number, since he never saw a point in having it, so he needed to get it. So he went to his contacts in his phone and found that only person who most likely had the thief's number and sent him a text.

To: Ryou

From: Atem

_Hey, can I have Bakura's number. Its an emergency_

He pushed the send button and sat on his bed and waited for the reply. His mind switched over to his brother and hoped he was alright. He had to admit, he was a little surprised by his mom's sudden appearance. He would have thought Mana would have given him a heads up about her return. Maybe she was only keeping an eye out for Yugi since she knew him. Either way, he was thankful. At least she was keeping an eye out for him.

'_I just hope he's okay.' _He silently sent up a little prayer to whoever was listening to protect his brother. He normally didn't do this, but he needed some comfort. Having not heard from Yugi for a while now was causing him to hurt on the inside. Not because of Light or Darkness, but just the feeling that everyone gets if they're away from home. Homesickness is what they call it. But for him, it was brother sickness. He missed his brother to much to put into words, even in his head. He just wanted Yugi to come home in one piece.

A vibration brought him out of his thoughts and he opened his phone to find a message from Ryou.

To: Atem

From: Ryou

_Alright, it's ******. Hope nothing is wrong. Text or call me if u need to talk. xp_

Atem sent back his thanks and added the new number into his contacts. Now proved that having Bakura's number was important. After saving his new contact, he searched for the person he wanted to call and pushed send. He held the phone up to his ear and without knowing, held his breath.

_Ring Ring Ring Rin—_

"_Who is this?" _A very familiar annoyed voice came from the other end. In the background, a murmur of voices mixing into one could be heard. It sounded like he was in a crowded place.

Atem released his breath and said in an urgent voice, "Bakura, this is Atem. Is Yugi with you?"

Bakura didn't respond right away. There was a grunt and he said in an annoyed voice to someone he was probably trying to pass, "_Hey, watch where you're going!" _Then he said to Atem, "_What'd you say?" _

Atem forced himself to not grind his teeth as he repeated his question.

"_Why the hell would I know?" _Bakura said. "_He ain't my responsibility."_

"I know that." Atem said in a calm voice. "But you were the last one to see him. Please, tell me what you know." He hated how desperate he sounded and no doubt the thief was enjoying this moment of weakness.

He was right, Bakura was enjoying this by the amusement that shown in his voice, "_Well, well, well. Who knew the pharaoh could sound so…" _He paused for a dramatic effect as he searched for the right word. He found it and smirked as he said, "_Helpless." _

Losing his cool, Atem growled, "Tell me where Yugi is or god help me I'll throw your cat into the nearest pond!" Always find people's weakness and use it against them.

There was an intake of air on the other end, but not one of panic but one of rage. "_You will not touch my cat you dumb fuck!" _He growled. If he was talking to someone else, he would have made the kid pee his pants by how much venom he laced in with his words. But since this was the pharaoh, it didn't affect him.

"Then tell me where Yugi is!"

"_How the hell am I supposed to know? He never called me to tell me that he made it to the airport. So I assume he's back at his father's house. If you're so worried about him, call him!"_

"You assume?" Atem practically yelled into the phone, enraged by the answer he was just given. "You're supposed to know! Why aren't you with him?" He ignored everything else the other said.

"_It's not my job to be by his side twenty-four seven, you idiot!" _Bakura said and then barked something unintelligent to someone on the other end.

Glaring at the other side of his room, Atem stood up and said in a tight voice as he tried to calm down, "When was the last time you spoke with Yugi?"

"_I don't know, a couple of hours ago?"_

"And?"

"_And what?"_

"What did you talk about!" Atem said impatiently. This was one reason why he didn't really hang around Bakura; the other angered him and always had him be impatient.

"_I don't remember; it was a long time ago." _Atem opened his mouth to yell but Bakura continued, "_We talked about what the brat was going to be doing while he stayed there. He had to switch things over and pack the remaining things. He told me he was going to call me when he was at the airport."_

Atem ignored the way Bakura sounded calm. He didn't care at the moment that this was the first time he ever heard the thief get calm this fast. He asked, "And? Did he call you?"

"_No. I haven't received anything from him."_

"Have you tried calling him? Maybe something happened!" Panic surged through him as he thought of the worst.

Bakura grunted and said, "_Duh. I've already tried but he never picked up any of my calls or answered any of my texts." _

"Did you ever try to go make sure he's okay?"

"_And waste money? Yeah, right." _Bakura snorted. "_He's probably just in some rut or something." _A dull noise sounded on the other end and he went quiet, as if listening to it. Atem stayed quiet until Bakura said when the noise died down, "_Well, I have to go; boarding my second plane. I guess I'll be seeing you in a couple of hours."_

Sensing that there was more than what the thief was letting on, Atem quickly tried to say, "Wait, you never-," the other line went dead before he could finish the rest of his sentence, "said where exactly Yugi was…" He mumbled to himself as he flipped his phone shut and ignored the thought, '_Even though I never asked you about it…' _

He sighed in aggravation. He was close to finding out if Yugi was okay or not but then Bakura had to ruin it by saying he didn't know anything about Yugi and if something was happening to him.

"Please be alright, Yugi. Please just be on a plane coming home!"

XxxxX

**Solomon's POV**

"Overalls… check. Shirts… check. Shoes and all extra clothes… check check." Solomon said as he went over a mental checklist for his suitcase. He was just trying to pack the things he needed most so he wouldn't have to waste any time. He needed to get to the airport as soon as he can and if he packed things he didn't need, he'd just be wasting time. "Toiletries," he looked in his bag and found the things were already there. "Check!"

"Have your passport?" A voice drifted from the doorway.

Solomon turned away from his suitcase and found his grandson leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed at his chest.

"Ah, I was beginning to wonder where you went off to," Solomon said with a playful smile. "And as for my passport," he patted his breast pocket on his shirt where a small lump was. "I think I have everything." He turned to his suitcase and zipped his bag up. "Is there anything I can do for you, Atem?"

Atem nodded and said, "I'm coming with you." His voice was serious and he said it like it was a statement.

Solomon shook his head as he grabbed his bag and turned around, "I'm sorry, but you're not." He saw his grandson bristle at the news so he continued, "You have to stay home and keep your mother company. If you came with me, who knows if my son will try to come back here and take her away. You need to stay here and just wait for me to come back."

"But-," The teen began to say but was cut off.

"No buts mister. I can't take you out of school nor will I leave your mother home all alone. You're the only one who can take care of her." He walked over to his grandson and noticed the boy was having a war inside his mind. He couldn't tell what the war was about, but he knew it had something to do with wanting to come to see his brother but staying home to stay with his mom. Just to help ease the war, he added, "Don't worry my boy; I'll bring Yugi back if it's the last thing I do. I won't leave without him."

Atem, despite wanting to come, nodded in defeat. It was an easy defeat in which he hated, but he knew his grandfather was right; there was no point in arguing. "Alright. But before you go, I have a suspicion that Yugi is still with his father." He received a curious look from the elder man and explained, "I called Bakura and asked what he knew of Yugi's whereabouts. He didn't know. But he told me that Yugi was supposed to call him when he was either at the airport or boarding the plane and he never did."

Solomon nodded at the news. He figured Yugi was still with his son. He only hoped nothing happened or his son didn't take his grandson anywhere. Miyuki, before he started to pack, gave him directions for when he got to Texas. It was how to get from the airport to Chokichi's house and there was phone numbers that included Barbra's. Solomon was a bit surprised to see his ex-wife's name but said nothing about it.

With the little bit of information Atem gave him, helped. He had more of a guess that Yugi never got on a plane.

"Well, I need to get leaving if I want to make it to the airport," Solomon said. He easily managed to get a ticket for the next flight out to Texas. Though, the plane leaves in approximately one hour and he still had to go through customs and all of that good stuff.

Atem nodded and stepped aside to let the elder through. He followed him downstairs, all the while thinking about his past life. He wouldn't admit it if someone asked, but he was pouting. When he was Pharaoh, he could do anything he wanted to do. His priests advised him if he shouldn't do something, but he had the final say. Having been told that he wasn't allowed to go after Yugi reminded him of parents nowadays decided what their child could and could not do. Only some good things came from living all those years ago versus living in this life time.

Down in the living room, Miyuki was pacing the room with a cell phone in her hand. She was biting her nails in nervousness and didn't notice her son and father-in-law came down. It wasn't until they were a couple of feet from her when she looked up and ended her call.

"Who were you trying to call?" Solomon asked, curious.

With a weak smile, Miyuki answered, "I was trying to get a hold of Barbra. I wanted to know if she knows what's going on or not and see if she can go check the house to see if Yugi's still there."

Solomon nodded. "Good thinking. Have you reached her yet?"

She shook her head, "No, only her voice mail."

"Well, keep trying." He advised. "In the mean time, I'll leave for my plane." They all started to walk towards the door and he kept talking, "I'll call you as soon as the plane lands and if I find out anything about Yugi."

Miyuki nodded and looked over her shoulder to glance at her son to see how he was fairing. By his expression, he looked like he was doing okay. If she had known him as much as Yugi had, she would have noticed the look of worry that was eating at him. She turned back to Solomon just as they reached outside where a different cab was waiting.

Before Solomon got into the cab, he turned to his family and said, "I'll be home as soon as I can. Leave the shop closed for now and if Chokichi was to come back," he looked directly at his grandson, "call the cops and keep her safe." Atem nodded in return. He looked back to Miyuki and his face softened to see her about to break into tears again, "Don't worry, Miyuki, Yugi is probably safe and with Barbra. I'll bring him back."

A single tear escaped from the woman's eyes as she nodded her head. "Just be quick. You don't know what Chokichi's capable of." Without saying it out loud, she thought, '_If I'm guessing right, Yugi is probably in the hospital or something!' _

Solomon nodded and gave her a quick hug. "Everything will be fine." He looked over to his grandson and instead of giving him a hug, he said, "Take care of her." Without waiting for a reply, he turned around and entered the cab.

Atem and Miyuki watched the yellow taxi zoom away until it was a speck in the distance.

XxxxX

**Normal POV**

Back in the house, Miyuki went directly towards the kitchen with her son following after her. They were both quiet as they had a lot on their minds and just needed some time to their thoughts. When they got to the kitchen, Miyuki went over to the counter to make herself a cup of coffee. She was very much in need of one.

"So, how was it?" Atem asked as he took a seat at the table and turned towards his mom who just put fresh water in the coffee maker.

Without turning to him, Miyuki said, "It was okay." She already knew what he was talking about so their was no need to jump around the bush. She scooped the coffee beans (?) into the pot and closed the lid. She turned around and leaned against the counter and continued, "Besides having Chokichi yell all the time, it wasn't half bad. Both Yugi and I were always gone whether it was for work or school. Chokichi was the same. It only sucked that while we were all gone; it was at the same time. So we all came home at pretty much the same time."

Atem nodded and asked, "Where were you working at?"

"At a daycare. It was fun even though I only worked part-time." The only bad thing about leaving in such a hurry was that she never got to say goodbye to her co-workers in which she grew to like. Maybe she could give them a call later and make up an excuse as to why she's not there anymore. Or why she had to quit on such sort notice.

The smell of the coffee drifted away from the pot and filled Miyuki's nostrils. Just thinking about the coffee caused her to have a little bit of energy.

Atem had so many questions he wanted to ask but he didn't know how to ask them. He wanted to know everything that happened, from day one to when his mom left and came back here. But right now, he could tell she didn't want to be questioned. So he kept his tongue. Maybe he'll ask Yugi to explain when he got home.

As if reading his mind, Miyuki said, "I can tell you're dying to know what happened," she received a sheepish nod and she smiled, "Well, ask away. It's not like I'm going anywhere. I will that need my coffee for that."

And with that, Atem launched question after question in which Miyuki gladly answered. She kept nothing out. She even went as far as to include getting abused and all of the little details. She didn't want to hide anything. The only things she didn't talk about was what Yugi had gone through. She didn't feel like it was any of her business too.

When she was done, Atem stayed quiet as he absorbed the new information. He was beyond mad because of what Chokichi did, but at the same time, he felt proud. From his mom describing some of how Yugi acted while he was there, caused Atem to feel like he didn't have to murder anyone. At least, not for now, that is.

Now more than ever, Atem missed Yugi. He was close to coming home, yet he was just so far.

Miyuki looked around the small kitchen. Something in the back of her mind was nagging at her and she couldn't tell why. Something was missing, but what?

Ignoring the feeling for now, she asked her son just as the coffee pot finished its brew and was ready, "So, what about you? What have you been doing while I was away. And details." She added with a wink. She turned around and grabbed a cup from the cabinet and poured herself a cup of the delicious brown liquid. She then added some sugar from the small bag next to the maker and then grabbed and poured a little bit of milk in with the coffee and sugar.

"Nothing much. Just school and hanging out with friends." Atem said. And that was pretty much all that happened. He watched his mom stir her drink before coming to the table to sit down.

"Uh huh," the mom said with a suspicious voice.

The teen tilted his head in nervous confusion, "What?"

Miyuki took a big drink of her coffee before saying, "I know there's more to it than that." She saw her son bit his lip as if trying to think but she knew that cover up and said, "So, how is Lyla?"

"She's been doing great the last few weeks and -," He paused, just realizing what he said. He noticed his mom's sly smile as she took another sip.

"Uh huh, that's what I thought." She said. "Now explain please. And no leaving any details out!"

Atem wouldn't admit it, but his mom reminded him of a teenage girl again. He sighed and said, "What is there to tell?" For some reason, he didn't feel awkward as he thought he would have felt when his mom brought up the subject. He seemed a bit comfortable about it.

"How long have you two been dating?"

Though a light blush did appear on his face. "About two months now…"

Miyuki nodded thoughtfully. So they've been dating for as long as she and Yugi were gone. He must have been very depressed by his brother's leave to have someone comfort him that way. It's a good thing she came then. "Alright, and when will I be seeing her?"

As if on cue, the doorbell rung and Atem smiled. "Right now." He almost jumped out of his seat like an excited puppy and left the kitchen to go answer the door. Miyuki stayed where she was and continued to drink her coffee. She didn't have much time to think about anything when her son reappeared and was holding hands with a girl. They came into the kitchen and Atem, not remembering if they had met before, reintroduced them.

"Mom, this is Lyla Verta." He walked over to his mom so the two could shake hands in greetings, "And Lyla," he turned to his girlfriend, "this is my mom. She just got back today."

Lyla smiled warmly and firmly shook the woman's hand. "It's very nice to meet you and welcome back."

"Nice to meet you too, Lyla. And thank you, it's good to be back." Miyuki said and shook the girls hand.

The girl nodded and then looked around, "So where's Yugi? He did come back with you, right?" When she received no answer, she looked at Atem and noticed his face darkened.

"He didn't." He said. "Jii-chan left to go find him and bring it home." He noticed his girlfriend's eyes widen and the millions of questions that filled her eyes. Quickly, he comforted her in saying, "I'll fill you in later."

She nodded and the questions disappeared. She looked back at Miyuki and noticed that she had a tired look to her even though she was drinking an energy drink. "Let me guess, the jet lag is catching up?"

Miyuki nodded and finished her last sip of coffee, "Sadly it is. That's the only one thing I hate about being on a plane and going across the country. It's around the early hours of the morning there; the time I should be sleeping. But, don't worry about me; I'll be fine. Just give me a day or two and I'll be normal again."

"Define normal, mom." Atem said as he tried to keep the smile off of his face.

Miyuki rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at her son like a little kid. "Ha ha, very funny."

Lyla smiled at the scene. She could tell by one look at her boyfriend that he was at peace. Or, half at peace since he was still missing someone important. But, he still looked happy. If only that happiness could last a lot longer, then it'll be nice.

As if remembering something, Lyla's head perked up, attracting Atem's attention. "What's up?" He asked and squeezed her hand.

"Have you told her yet?" Lyla asked, indicating his mother. Atem's eyes darkened a little and he shook his head.

Miyuki looked between the two and knew they were hiding something. "Told her what?" She prompted.

Both of them turned to the oldest in the room and Atem cleared his throat. "It's about Iggi…" That was when Miyuki noticed what that nagging feeling in the back of her head was about: she was looking for the certain furry dog who, even now, she couldn't find.

The hair on the back of her neck stood up. "Don't tell me…"'

XxxxX

Once again, it's a cliffy about Iggi. I bet y'all are really getting tired of that. xD

Lisa: Kairi's being a turd about the dog and wants to have the setting just right.

Yup! Just setting it up for Yugi. You'll see his reaction not next chapter, but the one after that. Well, tell me how you liked this chapter and what you didn't like and what you think I could have done better at. I'm open to any suggestions.

Lisa: You know, you just started saying that to your readers...

Yes, and?

Lisa: You have only three chapters left of this story. Why start now when you could have started in the beginning?

…. That, my dear yami, is a good question! XD See y'all next time!


	35. Hospital's and Goodbyes

**Edited: March 10**

**Soooo sorry it was late, guys! I've had no time to write whatsoever! Hope you like it! **

**Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!**

Chapter Thirty-Three

"_Aah!" Yugi screamed as he was being chased down the street of Domino by the one and only, the Pickle Man. "Leave me alone!" He cried out, "I didn't do anything to you!"_

_The Pickle Man let out a cruel laugh that echoed around the quiet city, "Exactly why I'm chasing you!"_

_Yugi glanced over his shoulder. The man chasing him had on a weird pickle costume completed with the aroma of cucumbers being soaked in vinegar. The stench filled the whole city, making the poor teen want to gag. His evil smile was stained yellow with green around the edges. Yugi could have sworn that when he breathed, the air that came out of him was green too. On his arms and legs, he had on green leggings._

_The teenager turned back around and suddenly turned a corner, thinking that if he put on a bit more speed, he'd be able to outrun his chaser. But, he made a mistake. Out of all of the turns he could turn at, he ran into a dead end. He slowed to a stop in the middle of the alleyway and looked around, trying to find something that would help get him out of the alleyway._

"_Crap," he cried out as he panted heavily. "Now where do I go?" _

_A loud noise made him turn around to the entrance. Pickle Man was leaning against one of the buildings like he had been there for a long time. He had a smirk on his face and surprisingly, he wasn't panting. "Hahaha, looks like I've got you now!" And he started his descend towards the poor teen who didn't have anywhere to run. _

_Out of instinct, Yugi started to back away. "Wh-what do you want?" He started to ask but, as this being a dream, a random rock fell from the sky and landed directly behind Yugi. But, for some reason, he already knew that the rock was coming. He didn't know why, but he just did, so he was able to step around it. _

_The Pickle Man was a bit surprised to see his victim not fall but he didn't say anything. Instead he said, "That is me to know, and you to find out." _

_As soon as he said that, something registered in Yugi's mind. He stopped walking backwards and stood his ground. Crossing his arms against his chest, he lost all fear and said, "Oh really?"_

_The Pickle stopped walking, confusion showing on his green colored face. He noticed the sudden change in emotion from his victim. "What… what's going on?" He asked. "Aren't you scared?"_

_Yugi didn't say anything. He thought about the question seriously. Now that he mentioned it, he wasn't really scared. Yeah a man dressed up as a pickle a bit scary, but it was more creepy than scary. He shook his head and answered the man, "No, not really."_

"_But... why? You used to be!" _

_The teen shrugged. "I don't really know why. Maybe it's because I've experienced worse things as of late, things that were scarier than you." He thought about his father. He wasn't really all that scary, but when he was drunk, he was. Why he thought about the man in front of him was scary, he had no idea. _

_The Pickle Man nodded his green head. "Well, alright then. I see you don't need me anymore." He shrugged his shoulders and turned around like nothing had ever happened._

"_Need you?" Yugi asked, slightly confused. He frowned and thought of why he would need someone like him in his dreams. _

_Without bothering to turn around, the man said, "Everyone needs something disturbing in their dreams, right?"_

_Shaking his head, the teen said, "Actually, no. We do better without them." _

_There was a pause and the man turned back and raised an eyebrow as he agreed with Yugi. "Hm... that is true. But, oh well. It was fun being a part of your dreams." He said. "And congrats on facing your fears." Before Yugi could ask him what that meant, the pickle disappeared in a flash._

_Standing all alone in an alleyway, Yugi looked around. "He made no sense…" He mumbled and started his cautious walk to the entrance of the alley. But before he made it to the opening, the world started to shake like an earthquake. He didn't have time to register what was going on when everything went black._

_XxxxX_

Silence was the first thing that met his ears when he felt woke himself up. As his ears started to adjust to his hearing ability, he could distinguish some voices that interrupted the silence. But, the voices were muffled, like something big was standing in between him and those people, something like a wall. He couldn't hear what was being said, but he could tell they were yelling since their voices were increasing in volume. But still, no words could be understood.

"Mm…" He mumbled like he was trying to talk to them. Still, the voices kept going. He tried to move his right hand but felt too weak to so he decided to try his left hand. But, as soon as he tried, he felt a pain shoot up his arm, resulting him into opening his eyes.

Soft light met his eyes and they were dimmed enough to where they didn't blind him. He was staring up at a white ceiling that had no pictures or color on it; it was just a boring white colored ceiling. He didn't know why he hadn't opened his eyes in the first place, but now that they were opened, he looked around and forgot about the pain in his arm.

The room he was in was as white as the ceiling, though the walls had some form of color on it. There was a painting of flowers that covered up for the blandness of the walls and there was a cross with the man known as Jesus pinned on it right across from his bed. Besides the tasteless walls, the room was pretty bland itself. There was only a bed –which he was currently laying in-, two chairs that were both the color of maroon, a tray for when you're eating or writing and there was a TV in the corner of the room. That was it. Pretty boring.

'_Where am I?' _He thought. The room looked familiar but at the same time it didn't. It was like déjà vu being in this room, but he could have sworn he had never been here before.

As he scanned the room, something caught the corner of his eye and he turned to it. There was an envelope on the desk tray thing and it just so happened to be in reach. He had been too engrossed in examining the room he didn't notice the paper.

'_I wonder what that is... ' _Yugi thought and putting as much strength into his right arm, he was about to lift it up to grab the envelope but his eye caught something else, causing him to stop. In the crook of his right elbow was an IV. There was tape on it to keep it in place as the clear liquid had access into his arm.

Just as he realized where he was, the yelling that he first heard when he woke up stopped and the sound of a door opening was heard. He turned his attention to the newcomers and was surprised at who he saw.

The first person who entered the room was his grandma who had a scowl on her face. By the look of things, it looked as though she hadn't been sleeping well with the bags under her eyes and her laid back clothing. Instead of her being in something nice, like a suit Yugi always saw her wear, she was wearing sweat pants and a normal t-shirt with faded writing on the front. Her expression was annoyed which made sense on why she was frowning. But, when Barbra noticed her grandson awake, her expression changed and a warm smile broke free.

"You're awake," she said in a soft, soothing voice.

As soon as she spoke, Yugi noticed someone was walking behind her. His jaw almost dropped to the floor when his eyes caught sight of the man.

"Jii-chan!" Yugi exclaimed upon seeing his grandfather. He struggled to sit up and didn't register the pain all over him from the excitement from seeing someone who he hadn't seen in a long time.

As soon as those words exited his mouth, said man stepped away from being behind Barbra and he hurried over to his grandson where he sat on the edge of the bed and pulled his grandson into a hug, dodging all of the IV's and cords.

"Yugi! It's so good to see you!" Solomon whispered as he hugged him. It felt like years since he had last seen him –awake that is- and it felt good.

Yugi wanted to hug him back but he didn't have the strength to. He still tried and managed to raise his right arm a little and hugged the elderly man and leaned a little into him. He agreed with him, "It's so good to see you too! But, what are you doing here? How did you even get here?"

Solomon pulled away and Yugi noticed the tears that were threatening the elderly man's eyes. "I'll tell you later," he said as he stared at his grandson, "but, I need to know how you're doing. Does anything hurt?"

Taking in the serious face and voice, Yugi thought about the question. He had a pounding sensation in the back of his head and he could now feel the pain in his arm. Curious, he looked over to his left side and found that his forearm was wrapped in white gauze. He barely moved his arm and pain shot through him.

Solomon noticed his grandson looking down at his arm so he explained, "You had a pole that went through your arm." The teen looked up in shocked so he explained a little more, "Apparently, when Chokichi pushed you out of the window, there was a… oh what is it called…?"

Barbra came to the rescue and said, "Just one of the loose pipes that were sticking up out of the ground." She walked over to the bed and sat down on the other side of her grandson. She took his right hand into hers and gave it a firm squeeze.

Yugi nodded even though he didn't remember much about falling out of a window. He did, however, remember something hurting his arm before he passed out.

"So, you never answered my question," Solomon said, bringing his grandson back. "How are you feeling?"

"My head hurts and so does my arm, but that's about it." Yugi looked up. He didn't feel bad anywhere else considering he was thrown out of a window.

Barbra nodded, "Yes, that doctor told us when you woke up you would be saying something among those lines."

The teen nodded his head. In the back of his mind, he had a nagging feeling that wouldn't leave him. So he asked what was bothering him, "What exactly happened?"

Solomon looked over to Barbra and nodded to her to explain. So she took a deep breath and said, "Apparently, when you and Chokichi were fighting, you had some friends coming by for a visit. They said they heard voices yelling so they came up to the house to investigate. By the time they reached the door, they heard a loud smash and they saw you fly out of the window and fell unconscious when you hit the ground."

"Who exactly were they?" Yugi asked though he had a feeling he already knew the answer. He just wanted to make sure he was right.

"They said their names were Eilene, Richard and Lucy."

The teen smiled. So he guessed right. '_I guess they weren't able to meet be at the school. That might have been what that text was about,' _he thought when he remembered his phone vibrating when he was arguing with his father.

"What about dad… where is he?" He softly asked. He was indeed curious of what became of his father and was hoping that that man wasn't here.

Solomon looked over to Barbra before saying, "He isn't here. And you won't be seeing him for a couple of days." He received a curious look from his grandson but he didn't say anything. It wasn't until Yugi was giving him a small case of the puppy eyes before he gave in and said, "He's right now being held at the Breaksville Police Station."

Yugi's eyes widen. "You mean… he was arrested?"

Barbra nodded. Surprisingly, she wasn't expressing any type of emotions that gave away what she was feeling and thinking. Her face was set in a neutral state and Yugi began to wonder what her thoughts on this were. He kept his mouth shut, not wanting to be rude and turned to his grandfather, changing the subject to one more important.

"So, why are you here?"

Solomon raised an eyebrow. Since he already knew what condition his kin was in, he decided it was time to tell his story. But first, he said, "I'll tell you why I'm here if you promise to explain everything that has happened while you were here."

"Including what Chokichi did," Barbra added. She really wanted, and needed, to know what has been going on. She was never aware that her grandson had been abused by her own son without her knowing.

Solomon nodded to add that in and held his hand up with his pinky finger out.

Yugi looked at his grandfather with a pained expression. He really didn't want to have to explain right now. But, he was going to have to some time. Now might as well be the best time since they weren't doing anything. He nodded his head and held his own pinky finger out and crossed it with his grandfather's.

"Alright. But you first."

Solomon nodded and started to explain. "Your mom got back safely and made it home in one piece." Yugi nodded and a part of him was sighing in relief. "She freaked me out a bit, just randomly appearing out of nowhere. And the first thing that came out of her mouth when she saw me was what I was doing there." He raised an eyebrow at Yugi and gave him a hard stare.

Yugi swallowed nervously and started to pick at the hospital blanket that was over him to keep him warm. "Y-yeah, about that…"

"Do you know how worried your mother was?" Solomon asked and crossed his arms over his chest. "Not to mention that you lied to her."

"I did that so she would leave!" Yugi protested though it was weak, nothing like how he had been when he argued with his father. "If I never told her you were coming, she would have stayed and nothing good would have happened. If she had stayed, you would still be back in Japan and mom would be here."

"That may have been so, but that still doesn't get you off the hook of lying to her about something this important. What would have happened if your friends hadn't showed up when they did?" When Yugi didn't answer, he answered, "You would be in a lot worse condition than you are now!"

Barbra laid a hand on her ex husband's arm, calming him down. In a soft voice, she said, "How 'bout you talk about this at a different time."

Solomon nodded his head, just realizing that he was getting worked up and had a quiver of fear laced in with his voice. He was worried over Yugi and got carried away. Now, calming himself down and clearing his throat, he explained the rest of what happened when Miyuki came home.

"When the plane finally touched down here," he said after explaining what went on at home, "I called Barbra and found out she was at the hospital. She didn't really explain anything, but came and picked me up and came back to the hospital."

Yugi nodded and looked up, still having that guilt feeling in his stomach. "When did you get here?" He asked, meaning when did his plane touched down; the day.

"Almost two days ago. You were out cold through the entire time, though the doctors don't really know why."

The teenager said nothing and let him continued.

"Ever since, I've been by your side waiting for you to wake up. Barbra didn't really know what happened. The only things we were informed of was one of your friends said they just know it was Chokichi who landed you in the hospital."

The teen nodded. He looked over to his grandma and asked her, "How did you know I was in the hospital though?"

"The doctors called me while I was at work." She answered. "Now, Solomon told you his story, now it's time for you to tell us yours."

Yugi let out a deep breath and nodded his head again. "Alright." He said. He took another deep breath and began to explain what had been happening the last couple of weeks. He told them about Chokichi's drinking problem and being in debt. He also explained about all of the fighting, arguing and hitting that had taken place. He didn't feel like it was important in adding the trips he made to going to Bakura's hotel; his grandma would be slightly confused on why he did so.

As he got further and further into his story, he realized he couldn't read his grandparents expression; they were like stone and didn't give off any emotion.

Finally, he ended with the day he was packing and how Chokichi came home. He described the encounter between father and son and then remembered the next thing he could; waking up in the hospital. He waited for his grandparents reply.

Solomon was the one to speak first. "You paid ten thousand dollars… to some guy you didn't know?" Yugi opened his mouth to explain again when the elderly man held his hand up, "No no, don't tell me. I don't think I want to know." He lowered his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes.

Yugi turned to his grandma and watched conflicting emotions cross her face. He stayed silent, waiting for her to say anything. At first, he thought she was going to call him a liar. Some women tend to do that when someone accuses their son or daughter of horrible crimes.

Instead of being called a lair, she stood up and leaned forward and kissed her grandson's forehead. As she was pulling back, she whispered, "I'm sorry for all of the things my son has done to you and your mother."

Yugi's brow scrunched up but before he could say anything, his grandma was leaving the room without another word. He opened his mouth to stop her but was stopped himself by his grandfather.

"Just let her be," he said quietly when he noticed what was going on. His grandson turned to him with sadness and hurt in his eyes. Noticing what that expression meant, having seen it for many years, he was quick to sooth his grandson, "It's not your fault so don't think that. Just let her have some time to understand what's been going on."

The teen nodded and looked back to where his grandma left the room. He felt like it was his fault for making her feel this way, like he wasn't supposed to tell her because he knew it would hurt her feelings about the ugly truth that involved her own son. But, if he had never told her, then who knew what would have happened.

It stayed quiet between the two for a couple of minutes. Yugi was lost in his own world while Solomon was in his. The only thing that could be heard between the two was their breathing.

After another minute of silence, Yugi cleared his throat, remembering something from before. At the clearing, Solomon raised an eyebrow in questioning just as his grandson asked, "What were you and grandma arguing about before you came in here?" He assumed it was them arguing right outside his door when he first woke up. Who else would stand near his door and argue if they weren't related to him in any way.

Solomon, trying to hide his surprise that his grandson heard them arguing, said, "Nothing important, my boy." He gave him a shaky smile.

Yugi frowned. If he could, he would have crossed his arms at his chest, but since his left arm felt a little numb, he wasn't able to. So he sat there with a frown, hoping it would cover up for the arms. "Uh huh." He could see through the lie.

"What?" Solomon asked all too innocently.

Yugi raised an eyebrow as if to say '_I-don't-believe-you'. _

After a couple of minutes of being stared down by his grandson, Solomon gave in. "Alright. We were just arguing about what's going to happen to Chokichi and some things from the past." Yugi tilted his head, wanting to know more. So he continued, "It's nothing you probably want to hear."

"Uh huh."

Solomon gave him a look. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I wanna know," Yugi pouted in a good manner.

"No you don't."

"Yes I do!"

"No, you don't."

"Jii-chan!"

"Alright, alright," He knew, even before Yugi had asked that he was going to ask about the argument. But, he had to of had some fun, right? "We were arguing about things that happened many years ago." He said and looked away so he didn't have to look into his grandson's eyes. "We were arguing about when Barbra filed for divorce.

"At the airport, that was the first time I had seen her since the day she left, and that was way before you were even born. When I saw her, memories started to pop into my mind and I grew furious at her for leaving me, but at the same time, depressed. In the car ride here, I stayed silent about that topic because as soon as she started talking about you, I became so concerned, I sort of forgot. But, after I found out you were in a semi-coma, nothing to serious," he added when he saw his grandson's eyes widen at the word, "I started to talk to Barbra about what I was thinking before.

"We started off at a calm conversation, but then it continued to get heated and soon enough, we were arguing."

"About what?" Yugi asked and tilted his head to the side a bit.

Solomon rubbed his eyes and Yugi suddenly realized his grandfather was looking his age. He looked tired and had bags under his eyes. He was hunched over a bit and he looked as though he belonged in a wheelchair because he didn't look as though he would be able to stand up. He looked worn out and his eyes seemed to lose his usual bright eyes.

"I wanted to know why she filed for divorce and for a while she wouldn't tell me, that resulted in arguing. After a few hours, she gave in and said she was tired of always seeing me away from home out on digs. She was tired of it and I understood, but I loved being in Egypt and having freedom." He shook his head and rubbed his temples.

"I remember coming home from a six month dig and finding Barbra packing her bags. She told me she was leaving and was not coming back. She never told me where she was moving too and I never found out until now."

Yugi could see tears filling his eyes. He felt bad for bringing it up but he didn't know it would cause his grandfather to start crying. Being as careful as possible, he pulled his covers back and crawled over to him, making sure he wasn't putting pressure on his arm. When he reached the elderly man, he put his good arm around him and hugged him from the side.

In a soft voice, he whispered, "Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

Solomon shook his head and wiped at his eyes to make sure no tears came out, "It's quite alright." He patted his grandson's hand. "I shouldn't even have been arguing with her; it was a long time ago and it should have stayed in the past."

The two stayed like that for a while longer. That was until Solomon patted his grandson again and they both parted.

"Well, I better let you rest." Solomon said and stood up form the bed. "The medication the doctor gave you makes you drowsy but it should help with the pain. I'm surprised you haven't been feeling it yet," he said, referring to how he was up and very much much awake with no hint of sleep in him.

Yugi shrugged as he crawled under his covers again. To be honest, he felt a bit sleepy but it wasn't so much as to where he wanted to fall asleep. "Where will you go?" He asked.

Solomon smiled and said, "I'm going to go find your grandmother and talk with her a bit. You just worry about resting and feeling better, alright?"

"Alright." The teen agreed. As he watched his grandfather walk out of the room, he called out to him, "I love you, Jii-chan."

Said name paused at the door and turned around, a look of loving on his face, "And I love you, Yugi." He turned around once again and left the room, closing the door until it was just a crack.

Right when he left, Yugi looked up at the ceiling, wondering what he was going to be doing now. He didn't want to sleep, not yet. Anyways, he had to much on his mind right now. His father was now in jail. What was going to happen to him?

The more he thought, the more he started to feel sleepy. As he turned his head away from the ceiling, the corner of his eye caught sight of something. He turned his head in the direction and found the same envolope from before grandpa came in. It was just sitting there.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Yugi reached across and picked the envolope up and brought it over to him. Once it was in his lap, he looked at the cover and noticed it had his name scribbled on the from. Wondering what was inside and who gave it to him, he flipped the package over and opened it up. He reached inside and brought out a piece of paper.

On the back, or what he thought was the back, was a note. It started off as,

_Hey Yugi, sorry that your birthday gift is late, but I gave you a warning that is was going to be, am I right? Well, it's nothing much, but I hope you like it. I started to work on it when all of us; you, me, Lucy and Eilene went to Austin that one day. Yup, this was the drawing I was working on. Like I said, it's nothing special or amazing, but I really hope you like it. It's kind of like a reminder so that when you return home, you'll always remember about your time here and the friends you made. Sounds cheesy, huh? Yeah, I couldn't think of any better way to put it. But, anyways, happy eighteenth man. -Richard_

Flipping it over, Yugi did an intake of breath. He knew his friend could draw, but dang, did he draw good! On the paper was almost self portraits. Richard drew himself in the background with him, Yugi, right next to him. Both of their expressions looked like they were rolling their eyes and sighing. They had a reason for it too. The two other people in the picture were of Lucy and Eilene. Apparently, the setting of the picture was in some kind of clothes store because the girls were looking and trying on all sorts of clothes. They both had huge grins on their faces and had many different shirts and dresses in their arms. It was almost as if someone had taken a picture of the friends when they went to Austin because this was pretty much how some scenes played out.

Yugi smiled at the picture. He loved it and thought it was nice to recieve something as lovely as this. He looked at the bottom of the picture and found Richard's signature on it, indicating that it was indeed one of his pictures.

XxxxX

**Three Days Later:**

"Did you have everything you need?" Barbra asked in a motherly tone.

Yugi shifted his bag's strap on his shoulder to a more comfortable position and nodded his head, "I think so."

Solomon, who was holding his own bag in his hand smiled and asked, "So, what does it feel like to finally be returning home?"

The teen smiled and a relaxed expression came about his face. "Awesome. I now won't have to worry about anything other than arriving home." He looked over at his grandma and hugged her one last time, "Hopefully, I'll be able to see you soon."

Barbra hugged him back and said, "I'd better hope so. But, just be safe and say hello to that brother of yours and tell him I'll be expecting a visit from him too," When they parted, she gave him a wink.

While Yugi was in the hospital, Barbra, when she had come back to the room, asked an odd question. She said that she was remembering back to hers and Yugi's first brunch date about a certain topic of conversation. And that topic just so happened to be about Yugi and his twin brother. She told him she knew he was lying and she wanted to know the truth. Instead of thinking up some kind of excuse, he told her the truth, proclaiming that he was tired of lying. He explained it all, including when he and Atem, rather Yami, first met to all of the adventures they went on to the magic and Atem being a pharaoh of Egypt five thousand years ago. He even went as far as to explaining how Atem had finally 'put down his sword' and went to the Afterlife only to come back a couple of months later because he was given permission too and that Yugi needed him.

Surprisingly enough, Barbra believed every word he said. She didn't have any reason to believe him, but she took his word. Not to mention that she now had two grandsons. Ever since she learned about her new grandson, she was dying to meet him.

Yugi nodded and smiled. "I'll tell him. Maybe when I come down, I'll drag him along with me."

"And it better be before you head to Egypt to start your studies," She added.

_Now boarding flight 260 to Domino, Japan. _A masculine voice came on over them.

Solomon looked over to where he and Yugi were supposed to go before looking back to his ex. "Well, we have to go." She nodded her head and hugged her grandson one last time. "It was great seeing you, Barbra." He said politely to her.

Barbra rolled her eyes and pulled Solomon into a hug. "It was great seeing you too, Solomon. And I'm sorry about everything that happened." She pulled away and by the look in her eyes, meant every word. "I'll hope to see you again too." A day after Yugi woke up in the hospital, she and Solomon made amends. They talked things over and set everything right, though there was no getting back together. All that mattered was they forgave each other and got on talking terms.

As the two started to turn towards their destination, Yugi heard his name being called by a few people. Frowning, he turned in the direction the voices were coming from, as did Solomon and Barbra.

"Yugi!" Lucy screamed at the top of her lungs as she and Eilene were running through the crowded hall to him. Richard was walking after them in a calm manner.

Before Yugi had any time to prepare himself, both girls flung themselves at him, managing to knock him to the ground.

"You were about to leave without saying goodbye?" Lucy demanded and pulled back so that she was sitting on him. She crossed her arms underneath her breasts and pouted.

Eilene sat up and sat down next to him so that he would be able to breath. "Yeah, what's up with that? We found out that you were leaving from the doctor's!" She was also pouting.

As Yugi struggled to sit up, as much as Lucy would let him, he tried not to show the pain he was feeling when his arm hit the ground. It started to throb. Just as he was about to speak, Richard came up and helped Eilene stand up and then Lucy. Both girls looked hurt, even Richard did. He helped Yugi up, using his good arm.

"Guys, I'm so sorry," He quickly apologised once he was standing on his feet. On the inside, his stomach twisted itself into a painful knot. "Things have been so hetic the last few days I guess I forgot..." He bit his lip, feeling ashamed that he forgot about them.

"We heard what happened," Richard suddenly said. "So we understand how things were crazy for you." He had an arm slung around Eilene's waist to comfort her as Lucy was standing close to him. "And we understand why you didn't tell us, so no guilt there."

Yugi nodded and felt a little better. Eilene and Lucy didn't say anything, just looked at the ground. Not knowing how much time they had until they had to board the plane, Yugi looked to his grandfather who nodded his head to say they still had time. So, turning back to his friends, Yugi went over and hugged both girls tightly.

"I truly am sorry," He whispered to them and meant it. "I don't know what came over me. I mean, how can I forget about you three?" He pulled away and looked at each of them. "You guys were my only real friends here that hung out with me for me and helped me on my first week. Not to mention there's no way on earth people could forget about you guys that easily. You'd have to do it on purpose." He joked.

"What's that supposed to mean," Lucy asked, though she understood what he meant. She playfully stuck her tongue out at him, losing some of her pout.

Eilene looked up, a look of forgiveness on her face, "It means that he'll be coming back soon to visit." She said it as a comment instead of a question.

Yugi nodded his head, "Yup. Before I leave for Egypt I'm going to be visiting so I'll call you."

"Not to mention you'll e-mail us too." Lucy added. "We can't lose touch."

"Never." He looked over at his grandfather who tapped his wrist to show that they had to go. He nodded and looked back to his friends. Looking more to Richard, he said, "Oh, and I got your present. So you know, I love it and thank you."

Richard nodded. He caught sight of the grandfather and held out his hand to his friend, "It was nice meeting you, Yugi Mutou. I'm glad you liked my present and I'm glad we became friends. We'll see you soon."

Yugi took his hand they they shook before closing the space in a man hug. They patted each other's back firmly and parted.

"Same to you , Richard." He said. He then hugged each of the girls and said, "And it was nice being friends with you two. I'll miss you three a lot."

"And we'll miss you too." Eilene replied and hugged Yugi back tightly. "Don't forget about us."

When they parted, Solomon smiled warmly at Barbra one last time and nodded his head. He looked over at his grandson and asked, "So, are you ready?"

Grinning to himself, Yugi nodded. He said goodbye to his friends and grandma, now he was ready to leave. "Ready as I'll ever be." Together, the two turned around and started to the entrance of the airplane where they would remain for the next fourteen hours.

XxxxX Till next time! You'll learn everything else in the next chapter like with what happened to Chokichi. :) This chapter was already long. ^^

**RANDOM ALERT: And if out of curiosity you were wondering how much yen ten thousand dollars would be, it's about 815,800.50 yen. I thought that was cool. And yeah, it really is random! :D **

**And…. OH MY RA! I FOUND A MISTAKE! :O **

**Lisa: And that's something that surprises you?**

**Shut up! But I was looking in previous chapters to get some info (it's just what I do..) when I noticed something about Yugi's grandma… In chapter seven, her name wasn't Barbra! It was Moeitchi! I can't believe I didn't see that! **

**Lisa: … You're dumb. But, you're changing it to Barbra, right? **

**Yes, I have to. There'd be toooooo much to change if I stuck with Moeitchi. Sorry, guys, I just had to announce that. I'm surprised I never noticed that! . (I'll be changing it soon!)**

**Yukihasyou: **Hello! And refer back to chapter sixteen towards the end. Annnd chapter seventeen towards the end too. That should help answer your questions! X3

Lisa: You're lazy. Why don't you just tell her (him?)

Because, it's more dramatic in the story. Hehehe.

**Dragon: **o.o That's a lot of people! Wait… are they all pregnant? And don't worry! You'll find out what happened to Iggi next chapter!


	36. It's Good To Be Home

**Well, this is the second to last chapter! -Pet's Zorc- I sadly don't have anything to say so-**

**Lisa: Yeah you do, dummy. **

**?**

**Zorc: Meow?**

**Lisa: There might be a shocking part in the chapter referring to Chokichi. -Snatches kitty away while glaring at hikari- He's going to seem different.**

**o.o You weren't supposed to say that! **

**Lisa: Well, I already did. You readers were warned. Enjoy the chapter! ^^ **

**Noo! **

**Zorc: Meeow! =^.^=**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or any of it's character's, just mine. :) **

**Chapter Thirty-four**

Already five hours had they been stuck on the plane headed towards Japan. There wasn't much to do besides sleep, think or talk. But, with Solomon already asleep, Yugi didn't have anyone he could talk to so he was only limited down to his other two options; sleep or think. He picked the second choice. He wouldn't have been able to fall asleep anyways because his mind was so full of events that happened the last couple of days.

The thing that really stuck to his mind like fast drying glue was what happened with his father.

Flashback:

"_Chokichi Mutou, you're being charged of two counts of kidnapping in the First Degree, two counts of simple battery, one case of child abuse and one count of attempt murder." The judge stated as he read from the pile of paper sitting on the desk in front of him. He looked up, his beady brown eyes narrowing behind his rectangle glasses as he looked at the man before him, standing with his lawyer seated next to him. _

_The man had a shameful look upon his face as he listened to the chargers. There were no traces of anger or resentment anywhere on his face, only the emotion of sadness. He said nothing, only nodded his head. _

_Seated on the other side of the room was his family; Solomon, Barbra and Yugi. Though, the teen was seated at the desk, just like him, just on the other end of the room. He had his arm in a sling to prevent him from getting his arm hurt as the wound healed and he was looking anywhere but his father. A lawyer was sitting down next to him, having been presenting by Barbra. The parents, or grandparents in Yugi's case, were watching the judge and had unreadable looks upon their faces. _

_The judge cleared his throat and continued, "What do you have to say for yourself?" _

_Chokichi stole a glance over at the other end of the room. His eyes caught sight of his mother's face, but she didn't turn to him. His said nothing as his eyes ventured to his father and last his son. His eyes lingered there for half a minute before he returned to the judge and shook his head to show he didn't want to say anything. _

_The judge nodded his head and before asking the jury for their final word, he asked Chokichi, "Mr. Mutou, do you find yourself guilty or innocent for the crimes you have committed against your wife and son?"_

_The man thought about the question, just like how everyone else always thought. He remembered everything that had gone on at his home like it all happened yesterday. As the memories raced through his mind, he cleared his throat and said in a calm voice, "I, Chokichi Mutou, define myself as guilty, your honor." There was a gasp or two in the crowd but he continued on, "I am well aware of the actions I have taken and I am ready for whatever punishment you serve." His lawyer said nothing as they had already gone over this before. He just rubbed his forehead like a head-ache was bothering him._

_The judge, not as surprised by his answer, called one of the Jury members up with their answer. As they were talking in low voices, Yugi stole a glance over at his father. The man to his left didn't look like his father anymore. His father, who always wore a smudge look of superior, who always showed no signs of weakness, had his shoulders slumped a little. He wore a look of total exhaustion. No longer was he looking proud, but defeated. _

_'_What's wrong with him?' _He thought as he continued to stare. He hadn't been able to see nor talk with his father ever since he was knocked out, a few days ago, not until now. So much had changed with only a few days in between. _

_As if feeling eyes watching him, Chokichi looked away from his fate and found his eyes matching his son's. They locked eyes for a few seconds before Yugi turned his head away and stared in front of him, a frown appearing on his face._

"_Alright, we have decided," The judged announced, bringing all eyes to him once again. He looked around the room, as if meeting every single pair of eyes before settling his own on Chokichi's. "The Jury and myself announce you guilty and are sentencing you to thirty years in prison with no chance of parole for the first five years." Chokichi bowed his head as if agreeing with it. "Now, if there are no comments or questions, I announce this case closed."_

_Yugi watched as his father was being led away by a couple of men in uniforms. Something didn't seem right. Why did his father announce himself guilty? Why wasn't he being cold and bitter like he usually was? What's going on with him? Before he could confront his grandparents with his questions, he left them and his lawyer and practically ran after his father. He heard his grandpa call after him, but he didn't stop. Now was the only time he would ever get the chance to find out. _

"_Hey, dad!" He yelled and dodged around people. Up ahead, he saw Chokichi's figure stop and turn around. His hands were cuffed in front of him and a police officer was on either side of him as they stopped along with him. When Chokichi caught sight of his son walked over to him, he frowned and waited. _

_Catching up to the small group, Yugi paused in front of them. However, one of the officers cut in before he could say anything, "Sorry, kid, but we –,"_

"_I know," Yugi said, cutting him off as he turned to him, "But I just need to ask him a question or two." He noticed the two officer's look at each other before the other shrugged. _

"_Alright, but make it fast." The same one said, though he and his partner stayed where they were. _

_Yugi nodded his head, "Thank you." He turned to his father and braced himself for a rude comment. But, one never came. He looked at his father and noticed that he still had the same expression from before; shame and sadness. Instead of a rude comment, he received something else, something totally unexpected. _

"_I'm sorry." _

_The teen blinked, confused. "W-what?" He asked, making sure he didn't hear wrong. _

_Chokichi swallowed once and took a deep breath before saying, "I'm sorry for everything I did to you and your mother. If I could, I wish I could take it back. I feel horrible for taking you and your mother away from your home and causing pain on both of you. I would say I didn't mean it, but that would be consider lying. I was blinded by anger I caused upon myself and with the debt I was in, I was desperate to find a way out. Seeing you in the paper and realizing that you were my son and had money, I thought I could just come into your life and get you to pay everything off. I didn't think everything through like how things would turn out or how your life would change."_

_Yugi listened quietly. He didn't interrupt or show any emotion on his face. He just listened. _

"_After what I had done to you, I was brought to jail where I stayed up until today. While I was there, I thought about what had happened over the last three months. I took in what I did to you and your mother and, even though this might not effect you, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I understand if you just ignore me and forget about me and I understand if you hate me, but I just had to tell you that. _

"_Everything I did I was being self fish and only thinking of myself. Nothing I say will change your mind but –,"_

"_Was there any other reason why you did it?" Yugi asked, interrupting him. "Besides the money? Was there any other reason?"_

_Chokichi looked deep into his son's eyes but couldn't read them. They were showing a confusing emotion that no one would be able to read other than himself. So, he paused and thought. Was there any other reason? Or was it simply out of pure lust for money?_

"_I really don't know, to be honest." He finally said after a couple of minutes. _

_Yugi nodded and accepted the answer. He took a deep breath of his own and said, "I cannot forgive you for taking me from my friends and family and my home, nor will I ever forgive you for inflicting pain on my mom or me or Jii-chan or Atem." The elderly man didn't move as he listened, "I won't accept you as my father because you haven't acted like one or because I never saw you until seventeen years later. There are so many other reasons that I can list as to why I'll never forgive you. But, there are one or two things I can thank you for."_

_At that, Chokichi frowned. He wasn't expecting that. As he continued to look into his son's eyes, he noticed them softening from their hard state. _

"_If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have made new friends, or have the experience to go to a different school or ever have met my grandma." Yugi gave a small smile, "That still doesn't mean I'll forgive you, those feelings are still there and will never change. But, I understand why you did everything. But you know, if you had just talked with your mom, she would have helped you."_

_Chokichi rolled his eyes as a bitter laugh came out, "Yeah, right." He looked off to the side at nothing in particular, "She would have just told me shit I didn't already know."_

"_That may or may not be true," Yugi agreed and continued, "But you never know until you try. And as for me, you shouldn't have forced me to do anything. If you had gotten to know me better, had come into my life as a father and not a complete butt head, maybe, just maybe I would have helped. Things could have turned out differently."_

"_Wrap it up kid," The officer said, interrupting the moment. _

_Chokichi nodded his head as he accepted the truth. _

_Not giving it any time to think it through, Yugi held his hand out to his father and said, "Maybe in thirty years, I'll come to finally forgiving you. But as for now, I can't. Nothing can change my mind." _

_Chokichi looked at his son's hand and looked back to his eyes. "I'm not asking for forgiveness." He said, "I know what I did and there's nothing that should be forgiven. Even if you forgive me, I'll never be able to forgive myself. But, when I do get out and I see myself as not some total bastard, can I come into your life as your father?"_

_Yugi shook his head, his hand still in the air. He smiled and looked over his shoulder to where Solomon was standing, "Sorry, but that role has already been taken." He could almost picture his brother standing next to his grandpa. Atem helped him in area's a father was supposed to help him, so he saw his brother and grandpa as his father. He turned back and smiled at his biological father, "But, we can start as being family."_

_Chokichi nodded his head. Even though his hands were cuffed, he managed to shake his son's hand. "As a family." He smiled. The first real smile Yugi thought he ever saw on his father's face that was directed at him. It made him feel good. _

"_But, you'll have to make up to mom on your own, and to Jii-chan and to everyone else." Yugi added. "And just so you know, it won't be easy either. I just have a soft side when it comes to going easy on people." They parted hands. _

_As the officers started to led Chokichi away, he called over, "You're really not that bad as a kid. I'm sorry I never took the time to get to know you."_

_Yugi watched until he couldn't see his father anymore. Then he turned around and walked back to where his grandparents were waiting for him. "A family..." He whispered._

End Of Flashback:

Yugi stared out the airplane's small window. He wondered why he decided to talk to his father and why he said the things he said. Would his father really change in thirty years? It has been said that being in jail does change a lot of people. But, the question that kept nagging at him was why his father did what he did. Chokichi didn't even know why he did it.

"I guess there are some thing's that can't be answered..." He whispered to himself and leaned back against the seat. He still had several hours before the plane touched down in Japan. Might as well catch up on any sleep lost.

XxxxX

**Atem's POV**

"_Have you seen Mana lately, Mahad?" He asked his friend as he exited the palace. He was just with his parents and needed some time alone when he found Mahad at the fountain. Seeing his old friend caused him to think of the bundle of energy that always made him happier when seeing her. _

_The priest shook his head, "Not for awhile. She's bound to turn up sooner or later." He said and closed the scroll he was just reading. "Is there something you wanted to ask her?" He noticed the aggrieved look on the prince's face and thought it had something to do with the girl they were talking about. Wonder what she did this time. _

_Atem shook his head as he sat down on the marble fountain and put his head in between his hands and rubbed his temple. "Kind of. I want to know what's going on with Yugi and Jii-chan. I haven't heard from Jii-chan since he left and that was a week ago. Mom is also worrying and tried to call him, but he never answers. I don't know what to do!"_

"_You should have just called," a rather cheerful voice echoed around the courtyard. Just as Mahad and Atem were looking up, a certain teenager poofed in front of them wearing a big grin on her tanned face. _

"_Mana!" Atem exclaimed and stood up. He pulled her into a hug before pulling back and looking her straight in the eyes. Without beating around the bush, he asked her, "Is Yugi alright? What about Solomon, is he alright too?" _

_The girl rolled her eyes and nodded her head, "Yes, they're both fine. Well, not Yugi," she said and frowned a bit. But before she gave her best friend time to get worked up, she said, "he's fine though. Just a bit banged up." She leaned forward a bit and held her hands behind her back like she was eight. _

"_Define 'banged up'," Mahad said, raising an eyebrow. _

_Mana grinned, "Just has a boo-boo that hurts like crazy." Knowing that both men were going to want an explanation she didn't feel like giving, she looked at Atem and said in an excited voice, "Oh, my gods, guess what?" Atem looked at her and frowned by the sudden change. He didn't answer, not that he had any time to as she immediately asked, "Guess who's on his way home?" _

_His eyes widened as he realized who she was talking about. "Really? Today? What time?" He asked and felt joy coarse through him. So they were both alright, or kind of in Yugi's case as what Mana said, and they were both coming home. _

_Mana nodded, smiling, "They're both on the plane right now and the plane should be landing at noon!"_

_Atem grinned as big as he could and swept his best friend into a hug, "That's great news! Thank you, Mana!" He said and hugged her tight and set her back on her feet. "Thank you for looking after him. I knew you wouldn't let me down."_

_Said name just smiled and hugged him back, "Of course I wouldn't. I'm Mana, duh."_

"_And is that supposed to mean anything?" Mahad teased his former apprentice. He received her sticking her tongue out at him like a child. He just smiled and turned to the prince, "Shouldn't you be waking up soon so you can get ready?"_

_Atem nodded and released his friend. "I guess you're right. I'll see you two soon." He waved at them before closing his eyes and disappearing from sight. _

_Once he was gone, Mahad turned to Mana and asked her, "What weren't you telling him?"_

_Mana bit her lip and looked away, "You could always read me like an opened book." She said and sighed. "Nothing really. It's what I _didn't _tell him."_

"_And that would be...?"_

_Still not meeting her teacher's eyes, she said in a softer voice, "Every time I came back to tell him what was going on, I never told him the whole truth. I never told him that Yugi's father was beating him because I didn't want Atem to get depressed. It would have gotten him nowhere. Besides, I already knew that he knew something bad was going on with his brother, and I didn't want to be the one who admitted the truth."_

_Mahad nodded. It made perfect sense, but, "You know he's not going to like that; you not telling him the whole truth." _

_Mana nodded, looking glum, "I know. But it was just to keep him from harms way. There was no point in telling him and having him be depressed for months. I couldn't stand to watch." She dug her boot into the soft sand pile that just so happened to be in the palace's courtyard. "That's also one of the reason's why I didn't come back so much."_

"_I figured." He said. "You only came back if Atem was talking to me." He recalled only a couple of times his apprentice showing up. "But don't worry, I'm sure Atem will understand. But, you're the one whose telling him." _

_She nodded. "I'll wait and find a good time to tell him." _

_Mahad raised an eyebrow, noticing she was coming up with some sort of plan. And knowing her, this plan was probably going to be frowned upon. "Whatever you're thinking, don't tell me. It's probably best that I don't know."_

_The young magician grinned, "It's probably best." And she skipped away, leaving her master to sit back down and forget trying to think on what she was thinking. _

_XxxxX_

As soon as he woke himself up, Atem grabbed his phone from his nightstand and sat up in bed. He went to his text messages and started a new one. Instead of just sending one message to one person, he was sending a mass text.

To: Lyla, Joey, Tristan, Tea, Ryou

From: Atem

Hey, meet me at airport at 12. Guess who's coming home?

He sent the message and felt to impatient to lay back down on his bed, even if it was to rejoice at the fact that his brother was coming home, after almost three months. He looked at his phone's clock and realized he only had three hours before the plane touched down. Time for a shower and eat something and tell his mom the good news.

"A great way to start the day off," he muttered to himself as he gather his clothes. Not to mention that today was a Saturday so he didn't have to miss school or anything.

XxxxX

"Finally, we're off the plane!" Yugi groaned as he and Solomon walked through the customs to get to the escalator to get to the bottom floor where their luggage was waiting for them.

Solomon rolled his eyes and looked over at his grandson, "You are being very impatient today." He chuckled and watched as the teen adjust the straps on his duffel bag for the tenth time that day. He wasn't wearing his sling today, only because he promised he'd be careful with his arm, and his arm was gently swinging at his side.

Yugi nodded, "That's because I want to get home!" He said and suddenly felt the urge to grab his grandfather's hand and make him walk faster. The familiarity of being in the airport with his native tongue being spoken everywhere caused him to become antsy to get home. "Can we go faster?" He whined and did grab Solomon's arm with his good hand and tried pulling him forward.

All Solomon could do was laugh as his grandson reminded him of an excited puppy. "Yugi, calm down." He said and slipped his arm out of his grasp. "We still have to go pick up our suitcases and wait for a taxi to come." That didn't stop the boy though.

"I know," the teen said and looked around as he absorbed his surroundings.

"Then slow down!"

Given another minute, he did as he was told, but his mind was still moving a hundred miles per hour.

"Did you take any pictures while you were there?" Solomon asked, trying to distract his grandson just as they got on the escalators. Like the airport, the escalators were packed with people all wanting to get to the bottom floor.

Yugi perked up and grinned real big, "Actually, I did!" He shrugged off one strap of his bag and swung it over to where he could dig into it while leaving it on his shoulder. "I already developed the film. You should see all of the pictures I took! From the first time I went into Austin to prom to-,"

"Prom?"

He nodded and looked up from his digging. "Yup. Lucy and Eilene forced me to go and I was Lucy's date. Nothing serious though," he added quickly when Solomon raised an eyebrow at him. "I would never do something like that to Tea." He looked down and was about to continue digging when someone called his name.

"Yugi!"

Said name looked up and looked around to find out who was calling him. At the same time, he and Solomon spotted them.

Standing in a group a little away from the bottom of the stairs was his family and friends. Atem and mom, Joey, Tristan, Tea, Lyla, Ryou and guess who, Bakura. They were all waving at him (except for Bakura) and were grinning. Joey was waving his arms like a maniac with a big goofy grin plastered on his face.

"Guys!" Yugi shouted back, a huge grin dancing it's way onto his face. He quickly zipped his bag up and without saying anything to Solomon, looked back down to the stairs he was on and said to the nearest person, "Excuse me, please!" The people in front of him parted when they realized he wanted to get off as soon as possible. He repeated the words to almost everyone on the escalator as he tried to get off as fast as the people were allowing him.

Just as he was getting ready to step off the last step, he was swept away by slender arms and was immediately pulled into a passionate kiss when they managed to get to the less crowded area.

Tea held his face in both of her hands and kissed him over and over again on the lips as she said in between each kiss, "You're. Finally. Here! I've. Missed. You. So. Much!"

Yugi just grinned and at the last of her sentence, pushed forward into the kiss so she couldn't talk anymore. He kissed her like he never kissed her before and only pulled back when they were both in need of some air.

He rested his forehead against hers and said, "I missed you more." He pecked her on the lips once more. The aching feeling that had been presented in him for the last couple of weeks creased to nothing upon seeing and kissing his girlfriend.

"Hey, ain't you going to say hello to us too?" Joey interrupted the two love birds as he stood off to the side, awaiting his turn. They both turned to him and Yugi just rolled his eyes.

Tristan was next to him, having his arms against his chest and he said, "Yeah, what about us? But, we'll do good without all of the kissing."

Yugi released his girlfriend and before he could take a single step, was crushed into a bear hug by both boys.

"We missed you, Yuge!" Joey said and hugged his best friend tight.

Tristan ruffled his hair, messing it all up. "Yeah, there was no one to mess with that wasn't Joey." He received an evil look from the blonde that mentioned wrestling later.

"Can't breath, guys," Yugi managed to say but he was smiling. Joey released him and just grinned.

But no sooner had he released the poor teen, Yugi was once again crushed into a hug. This time, it was by his mother. "Yugi Mutou, I can't believe you!" She yelled into his ear as she hugged him violently, fighting back any tears that wanted to come. "You lied to me and look at you!" She pulled back and noticed his left arm wrapped up in white gauze, "You're hurt!"

About this time, Solomon was calmly walking over to the group. He rolled his eyes in a good manner and told his daughter-in-law, "Let's have this discussion later. For now, give him some time with his friends." Miyuki nodded and looked at her son as a silent look pasted between them. A look that said, _well-talk-about-this-at-home. _She then stepped to the side and she and Solomon started to talk about things that had occurred in the last couple of days.

Yugi smiled over at his mom before looking back to his friends. He saw Ryou just as the silver haired teen waved his hand in greeting and said, "It's good to see you again, Yugi. You're going to have to tell me what happened," he frowned a little and when he received a confused look from the other, he smiled and said, "About Bakura. He won't tell me anything that happened."

"Oh," Yugi smiled and gave Ryou an apologetic smile, "I wish I can, but I promised that I wouldn't tell."

He saw his friend give a shrug. "It was worth a try though." He looked to his left just as his yami brushed past him with his shoulders hunched forward and a scowl on his face. He was walking straight towards Yugi and right when he came within a foot or two in front of him, he balled his right fist up and punched Yugi square in the stomach.

Yugi doubled over from the blow just as Bakura whispered, "That's for getting yourself put in the hospital, Mutt."

"Yugi!" Joey yelled and made a grab for Bakura just as he was turning around to leave.

But the teen shook his head and smirked as he straightened up, holding onto his stomach. He said in an amused voice to Bakura, "I'm sorry I worried you so much." He looked over to Joey and shook his head and the blonde stopped. The others watched as the ex thief stalked away from the group. They were all wide-eyed and a bit confused about the exchanged between the two.

Ryou watched him and looked back to Yugi saying, "Sorry, but I have to follow him or he'll cause someone else trouble. It's great seeing you again, Yugi. And I'll try to come over later or something." He waved to the group before running after his yami.

"I swear, Bakura never changes," Tristan mumbled and turned back to his friend.

Yugi shook his head in disagreement, "He has changed. You just have to get to know him to understand what I mean." His stomach ached but he realized with no surprised that Bakura didn't hit him as hard as he would someone else. He did care.

Tea raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend, "And I take it you two are close now."

"Kind of." Yugi chuckled, "But not as close as you're thinking. We just understand each other a little better." He looked around the group, looking for a certain person who was towards the back. Right when his eyes met crimson, he felt his heart squeeze.

"About time you came home," Atem said and walked forward before he pulled his brother into a tight hug. He held on to him and whispered, "It felt like you were never going to."

Yugi hugged him back just as tight and said, "I told you I was going to be coming home, I just didn't know when. You just worry to much," he smiled and closed his eyes as he hugged him.

Atem rolled his eyes and the two parted, "It's good to have you back, aibou." His eyes caught sight of his brother's arm but he held his tongue, knowing that Yugi would explain everything later.

"Trust me, it's good to be back." He looked over and noticed Lyla standing a bit off to the side. He turned back to his brother and didn't even have to ask when a look passed between them. He grinned and turned to Lyla, "It's great to see you, Lyla. I hope Atem has been treating you right."

Lyla just smiled as Atem's cheeks went a little pink. He pushed aside his brother who easily dodged.

"He's been treating me just fine." Lyla giggled as she and Yugi embraced for a friendly hug. "And trust me, if he wasn't, I probably could take him down without even trying." A snicker came from Tristan and Joey, along with an 'Ooh!'

"I'd like to see that," Atem said and raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend. He playfully crossed his arms at his chest.

"Just say the day, the time and where, and I'll be there," she winked at him.

Tea came and stood beside her boyfriend and slipped her arm around his waist. She leaned into him a little as he leaned on her. "So, do you think our little talk worked on them?" She whispered, indicating the time a few months ago when the group of friends went out for ice cream.

Yugi shrugged, "I don't know, maybe." Then, being curious, he asked, "So how long have you two been going out now?"

Lyla took her boyfriend's hand into hers and said, "Maybe a week after you left. I was coming over everyday and by the looks of him," she gestured to Atem with her head, "he needed someone to talk to and comfort him."

"Geez, thanks for saying that out loud," Atem mumbled, looking away feeling embarrassed.

As Lyla and Atem were talking, Yugi let his mind wonder. Not for very long though, because something clicked in his mind. He didn't even know what caused him to think about it, but it just came to him. Getting his arm back from around Tea, he slung his bag over so he could go through it.

"Right, Atem, I have something for you!" He said, causing the two love birds to pause in their conversation. Everyone looked over towards him as he was pulling out a small bag from his duffel bag. He zipped his bag back up and handed the smaller bag to his brother.

"What is it?" Atem asked as he looked in the bag only to find the object was wrapped up in white tissue paper.

Tristan rolled his eyes and said, "You're supposed to open it to find out," and everyone laughed.

As Atem was opening it, Yugi gave some background information on it, "Back in Texas, the few friends I made took me sightseeing in Austin, the state capital. Right when we were about to end our trip, we went into one last shop. I saw that," he said just as his brother tore open the paper to reveal a stuffed animal that was also known as a camel, "and it reminded me of one of the mornings before I moved. We were watching a cartoon and I wanted a platypus and you had to match saying you wanted a camel."

Atem rolled his eyes as he remembered that day clearly as if it was just yesterday. "This still doesn't mean you get a pet platypus, aibou." He examined his new 'pet' camel and smiled at the thought.

Yugi grinned, "I know." He tried not to show his disappointment at not getting a platypus. But, that was to be expected.

Joey, who had been quiet for to long, slung an arm around his pal's shoulders. "So Yuge, what exactly happened to your father?" Everyone went quiet and turned to Yugi who bit the inside of his cheek. His eyes went straight to the floor as he remembered the conversation he had with his father before he had to leave.

Tristan elbowed the blonde in the ribs and hissed, "Great, thanks for ruining the moment, you bone head."

Before Joey could say something unintelligent back, Yugi stopped it. He looked up and said, "It's alright. But you won't be seeing my father for the next thirty years. He's in prison and will be staying there for awhile." With that thought in mind, he looked over to his mother and said, "Oh, and mom." She looked over to him with a curious look, "I have the divorce papers in my bag and when we get home, I'll give them to you."

Miyuki tilted her head a bit, "But I didn't –,"

"Dad did." Yugi cut her in, already knowing what she was about to say. He received a confused look so he explained, "A lot went on and he wanted you to be free so he's filing a divorce." By the look in his eyes, Miyuki only nodded her head, knowing more would be explained at home where they would have more privacy.

"Alright."

Tea slung her arm back around her boyfriend's waist, first making sure Joey had let him go, and said to where everyone could hear her, "You've changed." She kissed his cheek.

Yugi titled his head and looked at her, "How so?"

"I don't know how to explain it, but you just have." She said. "You've grown up." She rested her forehead against his head and closed her eyes. "But I like it."

Yugi smiled, "I'll take that as a compliment. Oh, and Joey?" He looked over at his best friend, just remembering something else that had nothing to do with the subject at hand.

"Yeah, Yuge?"

"Tomorrow, at the park, three o'clock sharp," he said, "You, me and our decks have a date." His game face came out and he sort of smirked, "It's time for me to take back my title."

Joey grinned, "And what makes you think you can win it back?" He crossed his arms to look imitating.

"Oh, I think I'll be able to. Trust me."

Atem grinned and said, "I'll make sure Kaiba's there so he can see this himself."

Joey bristled at this statement and almost yelled, "You better not tell money bags!"

"Why?" Tristan joined in, "You afraid he'll start taunting you and call you Mutt just to make sure you lose? Dude, I don't think him being there will help you lose. Going against Yugi, you're bound to lose. Like you having zero while Yugi remains at three thousand life points."

"And what about last time? Huh?"

"You just got lucky."

"Why I otta-!"

Yugi stopped laughing at his friends and their argument as one word stuck out that Tristan said. He was so engrossed with being with his friends that he forgot about one thing. Something major. Something that wasn't a thing but a person. And that person, or dog, is...

"Atem?" He asked just soft enough for his brother to hear so he didn't interrupt his friend's and their argument. His brother looked to him, a question on his face. "Is Iggi alright?" He didn't notice, but his eyes sort of became big, like a child's, waiting for the answer.

At the mention of the dog's name, everyone got quiet, as if the name was tabooed. Everyone turned to Atem and waited on his answer, causing Yugi to become worried. His heart squeezed inside his chest.

The older brother released a sigh and met his brother's eyes. Conflicting emotions swirled around his crimson colored eyes. He looked over to Lyla who gave him an encouraging nod of her head. Slowly, he took a deep breath and looked his little brother in the eyes, "It's best if I tell you at home, aibou."

Yugi frowned a little. He looked around to his friends to find them all looking away. Even mom and grandpa was looking away. Having no one meet his eyes, the worst came to mind.

A couple of minutes later everyone was on their way home. Tristan had rode his motorcycle to the airport so he had his own transportation while Tea and Joey and Lyla hitched a ride with the Mutou's. It was a tight fit since the family car only held five people, but they all made it work. (Girl's had to sit on certain people's laps ;P) All of the luggage was packed into the back of the car with no space for anything else.

Yugi stayed quiet the whole way back home and leaned his head against his girlfriend's back as his arms became her seat belt. His mind was giving out warning alarms as he thought about his dog. So he had been right, Iggi was dead. Why else wouldn't Atem just tell him at the airport? Maybe his brother wanted to tell him in private to spare his feelings from getting stared at.

"Yugi?" Lyla looked over and touched his shoulder. She was sitting on Atem's lap and they were sitting in the middle seat. Joey, being the lucky one, got one of the window seats while Yugi got the other.

Said name looked over at her, though his mind was still going hectic. "Yeah?" He asked softly, almost like he was whispering.

Lyla gave him a soft smile and said gently, "Everything's going to be fine." She squeezed his shoulder. "You'll see."

He could only nod. It was in her profession to make him feel better by saying things like, 'everything's going to be okay' and 'don't worry' and others. He looked away from her and stared back out the window and gently squeezed his girlfriend. He never noticed his grandpa give Atem a look through the rear view mirror.

By the time the car pulled to a stop outside of the game shop and everyone piled out, Yugi didn't know whether or not he wanted to go into the house. He didn't know if he wanted to know the truth, even after a couple of months of being in the dark. If it weren't for Tea and Lyla guiding him into the house, he didn't think he would have entered the familiar home.

Atem, Joey and Solomon grabbed the suitcases and followed the girls and Yugi into the house. Tristan had gotten there a couple of minutes before them and helped with any extra suitcases and closed the car's door.

"Alright, what's going on?" He asked once they made it into the living room and the bags were placed on the ground, lining the walls. He looked around at his loved ones who all looked at each other as if saying they were the ones to tell him. "Please just tell me." Yugi added, slightly getting aggravated. Knowing the truth would be better than the silence he was getting now, even if he didn't want to know.

Finally, it was Atem who stepped forward. He had a pained look on his face as he grabbed his brother's shoulder and took a deep breath, "Yugi, look. About Iggi, he-," Before he could continue, a blur of black, brown and white flew past the two and barreled straight into Yugi, causing him to fall onto his butt.

"Wha-?" Yugi had only enough time to sit up before his face became a slobber zone as Iggi lathered his face in his wet, doggy kisses. "Iggi!" The owner practically yelled as he gathered his beagle into his arms and held him tight, despite the overgrown pup trying to give his owner attention.

Everyone watched the scene with smiles and gave them a minute to rejoice at their reunion.

By the time Yugi had enough kisses, he stayed sitting down and kissed his dog on the side before looking up with a confused expression, "I don't get it. All of you looked like you were about to choke up and cry."

Not anymore. They kept their expressions as smiling until Joey cracked and a bark of laughter escaped from him. That was when everyone else, minus Yugi who was still confused, joined in and started laughing.

"Sorry, Yugi," Tristan managed to say as he took a breather, "You don't know how hard it was to keep that a secret!"

"A secret?" Yugi questioned but had to wait for someone else to answer as Tristan went back to laughing. He pouted and looked to his brother to explain.

Instead of Atem answering, Lyla was, "Your brother thought it'd be fun to keep Iggi a secret from you even though everyone said that was mean."

Coming to his defense, Atem said, "Hey! That was after I tried telling him the truth every time he called me. It wasn't until mom made it home before I thought of it!"

"But you're still the one who came up with it!" Tea pointed out. She looked over at her boyfriend who was petting his dog and noticed Iggi was half sitting in his lap, looking as though he was glaring at everyone who was laughing.

"I'm still confused," Yugi admitted.

Solomon, who calmed down the most, explained, "Your brother thought if would be fun to play a prank on you to enlighten you that your dog was fine and doing well. I agree with Lyla, it was rather mean, but he only did so because he knew you were going to be coming home soon."

Yugi glared playfully at his brother. "Uh huh,"

Atem held his hands up in surrender. "Was just thinking of you, aibou."

As everyone started to calm down, Lyla cleared her throat and said, "But there is something you should know about Iggi, Yugi." Said names looked over to her and without knowing, Yugi tightened his hold on his dog, "When you left, Iggi was at the vet for a couple of days. Apparently, the fight you had with your father a day or two before you left, Iggi tried to protect you and ended up getting thrown." Yugi nodded in confirmation as he remembered everything like it just happened yesterday. "Well, Iggi bruised a few ribs." She noticed his panic and continued on, bringing out the worse news, "And with the last fight, the one where you left, Iggi was thrown against the wall. His bruised ribs cracked and he managed to sprang a leg really bad."

"But, he's alright now, right?" Yugi asked and looked down at his dog who looked back up at him. Iggi licked his owners face and whined a little. "I mean, it's been two months, he should of healed by now, right?" He looked back up for the answer.

Lyla nodded, "He's on the path to healing." She received a confused look so she explained, "He has been in depression ever since you left so his healing process slowed down." She walked over and knelt down next to the two and scratched the beagle's ear. "But now that you're here, he'll be healing faster."

Yugi nodded, understanding the situation on hand. He looked down at his furry friend and kissed him on top of his head. "Looks like we're both in the same boat." Iggi looked up and his tongue rolled out of his mouth. "We both are healing."

XxxxX

A couple of hours later and after a long story of what happened, Yugi was finally able to relax. He had explained everything that occurred, leaving nothing out since the people he was explaining to were his closest friends and family. No one liked what they heard, especially Atem who had a look of danger stay on his face most of the time, not to mention his emotions were wild, going from guilt to anger to happiness to anger once again. But, once he finished with his story, everyone felt better, though that didn't stop a group hug (organized by none other than Joey) from happening.

After finding out that nothing happened here, in Japan while Yugi was gone, things settled down. Time had seemed to fly by and the clock now read five thirty. It was dinner time now. Everyone extra had gone home to give the united family some time alone and to be with their own family, but not before promising to come back tomorrow.

And now, Yugi had time to himself. Jet lag was catching up to him so he decided to turn in for the night. After saying goodnight to everyone, he gave his dog his medicine (Which he found out Iggi had to take) and grabbed his few suitcases to bring them upstairs. Iggi followed close behind, going a bit slow up the stairs.

In his room, Yugi carefully dropped his bags on the floor and went straight to his bed where he plopped down. He kicked his shoes off rested his head on his pillow. Iggi, on his third try, managed to jump up next to him and laid his head on his owners stomach. Yugi started to pet his dog as he stared up at the ceiling. They stayed like that for a while that Yugi never realized he was falling asleep. It wasn't until there was a light tap at his bedroom door did he wake himself up and looked over just in time to see his brother walk in.

"Hey, Atem," Yugi greeted, a little sleepy. He only lifted his head a little.

"Hey," Said name greeted softly and closed the door behind him. "A bit early to go to bed, huh?" He asked and walked over to the bed.

Yugi shrugged and scratched Iggi's head slowly. "Not really."

Atem smiled and stopped at the bed. "Scoot over." He said. Yugi rolled his eyes but rolled onto his side and moved closer to the edge as his brother got onto the bed and took the seat closest to the wall. He laid down on his side next to his brother and reached over to pet Iggi.

Both boys stayed in silence for a while, comfortable in each others presence.

After a couple of minutes, Atem spoke softly, "I'm glad you're back, Yugi."

Without looking over at him, he nodded. "I'm glad to be back too. I missed home more than I thought even possible and I missed you being around." He moved a little to relieve his side from an uncomfortable position before continuing, "Even if you only cause me trouble, I still missed it."

Atem raised an eyebrow even though his other couldn't see him. "_**I**_ cause you trouble?" He asked, putting as much emphasis on the 'I' as possible. He gently poked his brother in the side, knowing that he smiled.

"Yes you," Yugi said, indeed he was smiling. "But it's alright, because I missed that." He received a 'uh huh' from his other.

It became silent between the two again. Iggi looked up from his owner and let out a loud yawn before placing his head back down on his paws and falling back to sleep. Being a dog, he had one ear perked up a bit to listen to anything that goes wrong.

Even though it was silent between the brothers, Yugi could feel something bugging Atem and he could feel the confused and almost hurt emotions coming off of him. At first, he was confused about the emotions because even though he didn't say anything, he had felt Atem feeling the same way when they were at the airport. He didn't show the emotions he was feeling, but he couldn't hide them from the link he and Yugi shared. After a while, it had gone away but it left Yugi wondering what it was about. And feeling it again now, he had a pretty good idea on what it was that was bothering his other.

"You know," Yugi softly said, getting the attention of his brother, "I'll always need you." He tilted his head a little so he could see a bit of his brother's face.

Catching on real quick to what Yugi was talking about, Atem gave a sheepish smile and shook his head, "I know. But it isn't really in the same way anymore, is it?"

"No, but it doesn't have to be, does it?" He asked. He received another shake of the head. "Just because you're not my Dark anymore and I'm not your Light, doesn't change anything. It's one thing we don't have to worry about now. A while back, I was wondering what was going to happen after high school. If you still were supplying me with your Dark and I couldn't leave your side for more than a few days, how was I going to be able to go to Egypt to study while you remained here and worked for Kaiba? Not that the problem is solved, it works out."

Atem shrugged one shoulder as if to say you had a point. But there was still a look in his eyes that held doubt.

Yugi smiled, knowing his brother a little to well. "I'll be needing you for a lot of other things, Mou hitori no boku. It may or may not be a life threatening thing, but I'll always need you. You understand that?"

"Yes, I understand that," Atem finally smiled. He felt a little better. "And I'll always need you too, aibou. Might not seem like it, but I will."

"And that's why we're brothers." Yugi agreed. He turned back to facing his wall and said in a soft voice, "Even though we both acquired our own Light and Dark, I'll still need you. I'll always need you. So don't go anywhere any time soon."

Atem rolled his eyes and held his hand out to where Yugi could see. He closed his hand up to make a fist and stuck his pinky finger out, "I promise not to go anywhere as long as you promise not to either."

Yugi gladly hooked his pinky finger with his brothers. "I promise." And this time, he meant it. There was going to be no breaking promises now.

They didn't let go and Atem added, "It's good to have you back, Yugi. It really is." He wouldn't say it, but his emotions covered up for it. He was beyond relief that his brother came back and that he didn't get hurt (as bad). The brotherly love was showing as well.

"It's good to be back." Yugi said and closed his eyes. "It's good to finally be home."

XxxxX

**Yay for Iggi not being killed off! (To be honest, I really never said he died. ;) I made sure with my writing, and you can even go check.) And** one more chapter left!****

**Lisa: Boooo!**

**I know, I'm the same way. T_T But, tell me how you liked this chapter! And one thing I need to explain!**

**Lisa: Great, more explaining. Why must you always explain?**

**Because, I want to make sure my readers are supplied with information! ^_^ But, the flashback dealing with Chokichi and Yugi's talk, that has a meaning to it. I wasn't trying to make Yugi naive or dumb or make it look like Chokichi was playing. They weren't. Chokichi really wouldn't mind to take the time to get to know his son. For Yugi, I was trying to keep him in character. Yes, I know, he turned all bad ass, but he still needed that sweet, caring personality. He was using both in his conversation. He wasn't forgiving his father for what he had done right then and there, but he said that he will someday. And he agreed to giving his father a chance. Yugi didn't change that much, I hope. If the conversation didn't seem like that, tell me and I'll try to fix it to where it make more sense as to what I am saying.**

**Lisa: But, as for now, hope you like it. One last chapter and that is the epilogue! Stay tune!**


	37. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Just my own chatacters!**

**Epilogue**

"_Hey all you seniors! Don't forget to purchase your caps and gowns! Graduation is right around the corner and you don't want to be the odd ball out! Just go to you counselor's room and they'll hook you right up!" _The announcement's said, though no one was really paying attention to them. Talk of graduation was thick in the air as there was only one month left until their big day.

"Yo, Yuge!" Joey's voice cut through the thick sound of voices to one particular student who was sitting at his desk, hunched over doing work. Out of the whole class, only one person was working. Everyone else was busy talking since it was just homeroom.

Without looking up, said name asked, "Yeah?"

"Have you bought your cap and gown yet?" He asked. He stood up from his desk and crossed over so he could sit in the empty seat right in front of his best friend for easier talking.

Yugi nodded. "Yup." When he had gone back to school, he was piled high with homework so that he would be caught up with everyone when it came time for the finals. Being in Texas didn't help him at all. If anything, it caused him to get behind. There was so much to do in very little time that he was afraid he wouldn't learn everything in time. If it weren't for Atem and Tea, he wouldn't have been able to get to where he was now. They kept him focused on his work and would tutor him if he got stuck. For the last three weeks, they were helping him and he was beyond grateful. But just because he was backed up with work didn't mean he forgot to order his uniform. He was on top of that.

Tristan looked over his friend's shoulder as Yugi worked out some math equations. "Having fun?" He asked with a smirk, though he was playing.

"Loads," Yugi answered back, rolling his eyes though his brunette friend couldn't see. "How about you sit down and help me with it?"

Tristan wrinkled his nose and shook his head, "Nah, I think I'm good. Besides, I'm not the one who needs to learn it." He straightened back up and ruffled the teen's hair, causing Yugi to groan and stop what he was doing to fix his hair.

"Leave him alone," Tea walked over and wrapped her arms around her boyfriend's shoulders. She kissed his cheek and hugged him tightly. "How's it going?" She asked and looked down at the work to see where he was.

Before Yugi could answer, a different voice did, "He'd probably get more done if you left him alone," Atem playfully said.

Ignoring him, Tea listened to her boyfriend's answer but stuck her tongue out at the ex-pharaoh. She knew he was right, but she couldn't stop herself from interrupting Yugi. She missed him too much, even though it had already been a couple of weeks since he got back.

Yugi leaned back into Tea, taking a break from his evil math problems. He put his pencil down on the table to also relax his cramping hand. "Okay, I guess. Remind me again why math is important?" He rubbed his temple to subside the head-ache that was coming on.

Joey answered him in a know-it-all voice, "It ain't."

Tristan backed him up, agreeing with him all the way, "The teachers just give us math so they can keep us busy and make us learn pointless things."

Yugi smiled and picked his writing utensil back up, "That's what I thought."

Tea hugged him once more, keeping her mouth shut about why they took math during school. To be honest, she was agreeing with the boys right now on math being completely pointless. She was tired of it all and just wanted it to leave so summer could come. Finals were stressing her out, especially since she had to pass them this year so she could exit high school. She knew she was going to pass, she did every year with high grades, but that didn't stop her from freaking out.

Ryou, who had been reading a book, closed it and put it to the side. He joined in the conversation and changed the subject, "Did you already buy your prom dress, Tea?" He asked since prom was one week away.

The girl's eyes lit up like the fourth of July and she released her boyfriend. "Yes! I bought it three months ago."

Under their breaths, both Joey and Tristan muttered in unison, "Dear god." And they rolled their eyes at each other. "Girls."

Unlike the two boys, Ryou always knew how to get Tea interested in a conversation and when Yugi needed help getting back to work. He saw his other fellow Light smile at him as he got busy with his math once again. "What does your dress look like?"

The two got busy talking, well, mostly Tea got to talking. Soon, Joey and Tristan joined in and the talk about prom was on and who was taking who.

Yugi half listened to their conversation as he tried to focus on math. When he got stuck on a problem, he looked up and sought out a certain person who was listening to the others talk. He had an interested but bored looking expression about him so now was the perfect time. Yugi grabbed his brother's arm and pulled him over.

"Need help?" Atem asked, already guessing his younger brother's need. Yugi grinned and nodded and so the two got busy with the work.

As Atem explained how to do a certain problem, Yugi heard who Joey was taking. He looked away from his work and over to his best friend and asked, "Did you already ask Mai to the prom?"

Joey nodded and a faint blush appeared on his cheeks, but it left as fast as it appeared. "Yup. I asked her a while back. She should be flying in really soon, like within the next couple of days." Luckily for prom, the seniors were allowed to bring whoever they wanted whether they be in a different grade, school, or even out of school. So Joey had asked Mai to prom and she had said yes. Or, well, duh, were her exact words.

Yugi nodded. This was the first he had heard of the blonde haired chick since he and her had lunch back in Texas. He was always wondering if Mai had ever managed to tell his friends that he had been alright and there was nothing to worry about. He tried calling her a couple of times, but each time he reached her voice mail and left a message saying he was fine and he made it home safely.

As if reading his mind, Joey said, "And don't worry, she told me about meeting you at some grocery store. She was really worried about you."

Before Yugi could nod his head or say anything, Atem snapped his fingers in front of his face a few times to get him back to working.

XxxxX

By the time lunch came around, Yugi was starving, but he wasn't allowed to go to lunch just yet. He had to go drop off his language arts and science homework so they would be graded and he could get some grades in the system. His friends and brother were going to wait for him, but Yugi said it was only going to take a minute so he sent them off to lunch while he went the other way. Now, he was wishing he had one of them with him so he could talk and not be in complete silence. (Ignoring the fact that the hallways are full of people walking and talking.)

"Well, well, well, look who decided to come back to school," A familiar voice said, stopping Yugi in his tracks. He hadn't heard that voice for a couple of months. He looked over to find the owner of the voice leaning against the lockers with his arms crossed over his chest and his right leg crossed at his ankle. He smirked at Yugi.

Yugi frowned but continued to walk, not wanting to give Danny any satisfaction that he was going to stay and chat. He was hungry and the sooner he dropped his work off, the sooner he could eat. If he stopped and talked, then things would take longer. Besides, he didn't even want to talk to him. The last time he saw Danny was when the bully beat him up in an alleyway at night thanks to his father.

Danny pushed off of the lockers and walked in step right next to Yugi and continued to talk, "So, I heard you moved but then came back. What did your father want anyways? Does he still need someone to beat kids up for him?" He continued to smirk, trying to get underneath the other's skin.

Trying to ignore him, Yugi turned down the hallway that luckily had both of his classes on. He thought about what he had for lunch so he wouldn't have to listen to the bully.

Danny didn't seem to notice as he kept on talking, "If he doesn't, then that's all right; I still have other kids to pummel." Then he did notice the other's quietness. He raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised by the silent treatment and slightly angered by it. "Hey, speak." He shoved Yugi's shoulder to the side.

But still, he didn't speak. Yugi just gritted his teeth and continued forward. His classes were only a few doors away.

"What, so you're not going to say anything? Just going to run away like a little girl?" He smirked again.

"Will you just go away?" Yugi asked without turning to the bully. He couldn't hide the annoyance that filled his voice so he sped up his pace until he made it to his classroom. When he entered the room, Danny didn't follow him, which was a relief. Taking his time, he handed his science teacher all of his work in which the teacher handed him a packet more. He hid a groan and accepted it.

Once he left the room, he found Danny waiting for him on the outside. Not facing him, Yugi asked, "So what, you're going to stalk me now?"

Danny snorted, "In your dreams, runt." He followed Yugi to his next class where he waited once again for him to turn in his work and come back out.

"So why are you here?" Yugi asked, now making his way to lunch. "I haven't done anything to you so why don't you just leave."

That resulted in having Danny grab Yugi's shoulder once again and he was about to shove the teen to the ground for what he said when Yugi surprised him and dodged the hand. He pretty much danced to the side and glared at the bully.

Danny recovered from his surprised shock in seconds as he raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so it seems like someone got a back bone now. Good for him," he sarcastically said.

Yugi was a couple of feet in front of Danny when he looked him straight in the eye and said, "Look, leave me alone. I'm not someone you can pick on anymore."

The bully smirked and asked, "What makes you so sure of that?" He asked and stayed where he was standing, watching the teen in front of him glare.

But Yugi didn't answer him. Instead, he turned around and started to walk away, praying that Danny would just take the hint and leave him alone. What he had said about not being someone to be easily picked on, he was telling the truth about that. He will stick up for himself if need be. He was just giving Danny a chance now to back off.

"Hey, we ain't through here!" The other yelled and walked after Yugi. This time, when he grabbed onto Yugi's should and swung him around so he could beat him in the face; his own face was met with a face full of fist. He felt the force from the punch in his nose, breaking it and causing the blood to start going.

Yugi pulled his fist back and kind of waved it in the air, trying to get over the pain from the impact. His knuckles were starting to ache. He watched Danny clutch his now bleeding nose and told him in a calm voice as he stopped waving his hand, "I told you; I'm not someone you can pick on anymore." With that, he turned around and headed to the place he ate lunch at, leaving the bully stunned in his place.

In only a couple of minutes, Yugi made it outside to where his friend's and brother were waiting for him, sitting down in the shade of the big oak tree, chowing down on their lunches. They were laughing and having a good time.

"'Bout time you made it!" Joey yelled over when he caught sight of his best friend walking over.

Yugi grinned and sat down next to his girl friend. He leaned in to her and took his bag off, placing it on the ground next to him. "Sorry, I got held up by someone." He said and pecked Tea on the cheek just as she took a hold of his free hand.

Atem raised an eyebrow at his partner, feeling a strange emotion coming off of him. A sense of accomplishment. But, before he could ask what had happened, Tristan asked in a confused voice, "Hey, what's wrong with Danny?" He pointed to the bully who had just walked outside and over to a picnic table which had a group of underclassmen eating their lunch. He growled at them and the boys scrambled out of their seat, grabbed their things and ran from the table. He sat down and pressed tissues to his nose which was heavily bleeding.

"I wonder who punched him," Ryou wondered aloud, taking in the red tissues in his hands.

Yugi stayed quiet.

At that moment, Danny decided to look up and over to the group that were watching him from afar. He stared at them but didn't yell. Instead, his eyes met Yugi's. For the first time ever, instead of sneering or glaring or threatening or insulting the boy, Danny nodded his head once in acceptance and turned his gaze away before anyone could make out what he did.

"Probably some kid who was tired of him pickin' on him." Joey said and the group turned away. He took a huge bite of his sandwich.

Atem thought for maybe a moment when he realized what was going on. He looked over to his partner who was looking at something else. He nudged Yugi with his shoe and when his younger brother looked over at him with raised eyebrows, Atem knew why his brother had come over with a sense of accomplishment.

Yugi tilted his head a bit to the side, still waiting on what his brother wanted.

Atem shook his head and hid a smile that crept onto his face by taking a sip of his water. He noticed his partner also smile by him figuring it all out.

"So," Yugi said changing the subject, "What did I miss?"

XxxxX

**The End! **

**I kind of like the ending. I kind of see it as Yugi asking what did he miss while he was turning his things in but also of what had he missed while he was gone as in when he moved. **

**Lisa: You are so weird. **

**I know! But it takes one to know one. ;) **

**Lisa: I ain't weird. **

**Yes you arrre! We are related. Well, we're one person to be exact. **

**Lisa: Get on with what you were saying. **

**Alright! Well, as you can see this is the last chapter! :'( I'm really sad too because I grew attached to it. I really loved writing to it and the way everything developed. **

**Lisa: And I expect there will be a sequel to this story too? -.-**

**Nope! :D But there will be short stories…. I haven't really decided. This story is like my baby, so I might be having some extra short stories tying to this one. ^^ Who knows? **

**Now, one more thing before I let you go for the last time on this story, :'(. On my profile there is a poll about what story I should right next. I'll be taking it down this, _this _Sunday so if you haven't already, go vote! You're vote counts! And I should also tell you, whichever one wins, I won't be starting that story until I finish the two stories I still have left (No more and my Naruto story, Her New Beginning) Just so you know. **

**Well, this is it!**

**Lisa: See y'all later and hopefully in other stories!**

**Byes! Thank you all SO MUCH for reading and sticking with me through this! You don't know how happy I am that you stuck with me! Byes!**

**Reviews:**

**DRAGON: I guess you were an Iggi fan too! ;) That dog made an impression on everyone it seems Hehee. I know what you mean about Mana and Atem. I would have done it, but Mana is in the afterlife. But don't worry; I'm cooking up a short story with those two in it. So watch my page for new stories. :P **

**And Awwwwwwwwwww, thank you! You're so nice! And I must thank you for reading it and liking it so much! So thank you! And I'll look out for an account. (Though you might want to contact me, lol. I'll easily forget)**

**Anonymous: Hm…. I could try and cook up a one short about that. It will take me a while because I have so many other stories to worry about including finishing some, starting some and doing a one-shot for a fellow author. But I will try. You already have me thinking upon it. :P Thanks for reading up to this far though! **


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